Published 16:42 IST, February 25th 2021
Khashoggi's killers used company seized by Saudi Crown Prince, reveal court documents
The two private jets used by the assassination squad for the gruesome killing of Jamal Khashoggi were owned by a company seized by Saudi crown prince
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In the latest development revealing the Saudi connection to Jamal Khashoggi murder, two private jets used by the assassination squad for the gruesome killing of Washington Post columnist were owned by a company seized by Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman less than a year before the murder, reported CNN citing filed court documents. As per the report, the documents that were filed as part of a Canadian civil lawsuit in 2021 are labelled ‘Top secret’ and have been signed by a Saudi government official who apparently relayed the orders of the kingdom’s crown prince, the young de facto ruler of Saudi Arabia.
"According to the instruction of His Highness the Crown Prince," the minister wrote according to a translation reported by the media outlet, "immediately approve the completion of the necessary procedures for this."
The revelation is made by the documents that lay out how the ownership of Sky Prime Aviation was ordered to be transferred into the Gulf nation’s $400 billion sovereign wealth fund in late 2017. The same company’s planes were later used in October 2018 for the killing and alleged dismembering of Khashoggi. The sovereign wealth fund of Saudi Arabia termed the Public Investment Fund is reportedly controlled by the Saudi crown and chaired by the crown prince who is known as MBS.
The filing that established a more definite link between the Saudi crown prince and Khashoggi killing was filed by a group of Saudi-state owned companies as part of an embezzlement suit. The lawsuit was opened against a former top Saudi intelligence official, Saad Aljabri in Canada. These accusations of embezzlement against Aljabri came nearly a year after he filed a lawsuit in Washington District Court against MBS.
Aljabri has accused the crown prince of sending a hit team to kill him in Canada a few days after Khashoggi was killed. However, the lawyer for the prince asked the court to dismiss the case even though MBS was served a summons via WhatsApp in December. Before the documents were accessed by the media outlet, the Wall Street Journal had reported in October 2018 citing people familiar with the matter that the Gulfstream jets used by the squad assigned to kill Khashoggi belonged to a company controlled by MBS.
Biden To Call Saudi King
Meanwhile, US President Joe Biden is expected to call Saudi Arabia’s King Salman while his administration prepares to declassify the report on the gruesome murder of the Washington Post columnist, Jamal Khashoggi. As reported by the Guardian, the declassified intelligence assessment by the United States will reportedly name the Saudi royal’s son and heir as complicit in the Khashoggi murder. The White House reportedly confirmed on February 24 that Biden’s call to the 85-year-old Saudi King would take place “soon” while adding that the declassified report on columnist’s murder was being readied for release.
Image credits: The Associated Press
16:45 IST, February 25th 2021