Britain’s former top spy master has said people close to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman ordered journalist Jamal Khashoggi’s grisly murder.

And Sir John Sawers – the former head of MI6 – blamed President Donald Trump’s US administration for emboldening the hot-headed prince.

Sir John said today: “All the evidence points to it being ordered and carried out by people close to Mohammed bin Salman.

“I don’t think he would have done this if he hadn’t thought he had licence from the US administration to behave as he wished.”

Mr Khashoggi, a critic of Prince Mohammed who lived in the US, is feared to have been tortured and dismembered while alive in Saudi Arabia’s consulate in Istanbul, Turkey.

Up to 15 consulate staff were tonight being quizzed by Turkish authorities as police widened a search for his body.

Under-pressure Mr Trump has said there may be “severe” consequences for his Saudi allies if allegations are proven. </s> Major General Ahmed Al-Asiri was sacked as Saudi Arabia's deputy intelligence chief on Friday, Saudi state media reported.

The announcement came as the kingdom's state media said that the missing journalist Jamal Khashoggi had been killed in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, citing an official Saudi investigation.

State media also reported that King Salman had ordered the restructuring of the command of the general intelligence agency, under the supervision of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS.)

Al-Asiri has served as an adviser to bin Salman, who promoted him to his intelligence position last year, and is considered to be one of MBS' closest aides.

He is "a key figure within the royal household, a very senior figure," Al Jazeera's Andrew Simmons reported from Istanbul, following the announcement. "He has been fingered by the royal household as being partly to blame for this."

Al-Asiri was not part of the 15-man "hit squad" named by Turkish media, who Turkish officials suspect were involved in the killing of Khashoggi.

Al-Asiri is well known to journalists who cover the Middle East, from his previous role as spokesperson for the Saudi-led coalition campaign in Yemen.

A report in the New York Times on Thursday indicated that the Saudi rulers were considering blaming al-Asiri for the killing of Khashoggi, noting that it would provide a plausible explanation for the killing and help to deflect blame from the Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. </s> WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The CIA has concluded that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman ordered the assassination of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in Istanbul, the Washington Post reported on Friday, a finding that contradicts Saudi government assertions that he was not involved.

The Post said U.S. officials have expressed high confidence in the CIA assessment, which is the most definitive to date linking Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler to the killing and complicates President Donald Trump’s efforts to preserve U.S. ties with one of the closest American allies in the region.

Reuters was not immediately able to verify the accuracy of the report, but a source familiar with U.S. intelligence assessments told Reuters U.S. government experts assess with confidence that the crown prince ordered the operation that led to Khashoggi’s death.

The White House declined to comment on the Post report, saying it was an intelligence matter. The State Department also declined to comment.

Khashoggi, a contributing columnist for the Washington Post, was killed at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on Oct. 2 when he went there to pick up documents he needed for his planned marriage to a Turkish woman.

Khashoggi, a critic of the Saudi government, had resisted pressure from Riyadh for him to return home. Saudi officials have said a team of 15 Saudi nationals were sent to confront Khashoggi at the consulate and that he was accidentally killed in a chokehold by men who were trying to force him to return to the kingdom.

Turkish officials have said the killing was intentional and have been pressuring Saudi Arabia to extradite those responsible to stand trial. An adviser to Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan on Thursday accused Saudi Arabia of trying to cover up the murder.

His remarks came after Saudi Arabia’s public prosecutor said he was seeking the death penalty for five suspects charged in Khashoggi’s killing. The Saudi prosecutor, Shalaan al-Shalaan, told reporters the Saudi crown prince knew nothing of the operation, in which Khashoggi’s body was dismembered and removed from the consulate.

The Post, citing people familiar with the matter, said the CIA reached its conclusions after examining multiple sources of intelligence, including a phone call that the prince’s brother, Khalid bin Salman, the Saudi ambassador to the United States, had with Khashoggi.

Khalid told Khashoggi he should go to the Saudi consulate in Istanbul to retrieve the documents and gave him assurances that it would be safe to do so, the Post said.

The newspaper, citing people familiar with the call, said it was not clear if Khalid knew Khashoggi would be killed but that he made the call at his brother’s direction.

Ambassador Khalid bin Salman said in a Twitter posted on Friday the last contact he had with Khashoggi was via text on Oct. 26, 2017, nearly a year before the journalist’s death.

“I never talked to him by phone and certainly never suggested he go to Turkey for any reason. I ask the US government to release any information regarding this claim,” he said in his Twitter message. </s> A suspect identified by Turkey in the disappearance of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi was a frequent companion of the kingdom’s powerful Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, The New York Times has reported. Three other suspects are linked to Prince Mohammed’s security detail and a fifth is a high-level forensic doctor, the Times said. The account, and a similar report in The Washington Post, could raise doubts about US President Donald Trump’s claim that “rogue killers” might have been responsible for Khashoggi’s disappearance. Trump made the comment after he said Saudi King Salman strongly denied to him any knowledge of what happened. Khashoggi, a Saudi national who contributed to The Post and criticised policies of Salman’s son Crown Prince Mohammed, has not been seen since October 2, when he went to the Saudi consulate in Istanbul to obtain official documents for his upcoming marriage.

Turkish government sources have said police believe the journalist was killed by a special team of 15 Saudi officials sent to Istanbul especially for the task. Riyadh insists that he left the consulate safely. The Times said it confirmed that at least nine of the 15 worked for the Saudi security services, military or other government ministries. The newspaper said it gathered more information about the suspects through facial recognition software, a database of Saudi cellphone numbers, leaked Saudi government documents, witnesses and media.

One suspect, Maher Abdulaziz Mutreb, was a diplomat assigned to the Saudi embassy in London in 2007, it said, citing a British diplomatic roster. Mutreb, perhaps a bodyguard, has been photographed emerging from planes with Prince Mohammed on recent trips to Madrid and Paris, the newspaper reported.

It added that Mutreb was also photographed standing guard during Prince Mohammed’s visits in the United States to Houston, Boston and the United Nations. The Times said three other suspects are Abdulaziz Mohammed al-Hawsawi – a member of the security team that travels with Prince Mohammed – Thaar Ghaleb al-Harbi, and Muhammed Saad Alzahrani. Al-Harbi and Alzahrani have the same names as two people who have been identified as members of the Saudi Royal Guard, the Times said.

The fifth suspect is an autopsy expert, Salah al-Tubaigy, who the Times said identified himself on his Twitter account as the head of the Saudi Scientific Council of Forensics. He also held high positions in the Interior Ministry and the kingdom’s top medical school, the report said. In its separate report late Tuesday, the Post said 11 of the 15 people which Turkey alleged were involved in Khashoggi’s killing have ties to the Saudi security services, including some who claim to be with the Royal Guard.

The Post cited posts on social media, emails, local media and other sources. On Monday, CNN cited two sources as saying the Saudis are preparing a report that Khashoggi’s death resulted from a botched interrogation, while The Wall Street Journal said the kingdom was weighing whether to say that rogue operatives killed Khashoggi by mistake. </s> RIYADH (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia’s minister of state for foreign affairs rejected on Wednesday a U.N. report that said there is credible evidence that Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and other high-level officials are liable for the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

“Nothing new...,” tweeted Adel al-Jubeir. “The report of the rapporteur in the human rights council contains clear contradictions and baseless allegations which challenge its credibility.” </s> RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s minister of state for foreign affairs rejected on Wednesday a U.N. report that said there is credible evidence that Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and other high-level officials are liable for the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

“Nothing new…,” tweeted Adel al-Jubeir. “The report of the rapporteur in the human rights council contains clear contradictions and baseless allegations which challenge its credibility.”

Earlier, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and other senior Saudi officials should be investigated over the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi since there is credible evidence they are liable for his death, a U.N. rights investigator said on Wednesday. </s> • A former CIA case officer and intelligence analyst said the Trump administration is helping the Saudi Crown Prince cover up journalist Jamal Khashoggi’s murder.
• Bob Baer, who worked as a CIA case officer primarily in the Middle East, told CNN’s Jake Tapper that the US has purposely muted its response to Khashoggi’s murder, despite mounting evidence – including audio recordings – that some suggest implicates the Saudi Crown Prince.
• Turkish and US officials, including US National Security Adviser John Bolton, have said that the audio does not conclusively link the killing to Prince Mohammed. But Baer suggested it is unlikely that anyone else in the Kingdom would have the authority to order such an operation.
• “The chances that Mohammed bin Salman ordered this, we’re hitting 100%,” Baer said.
• The Trump administration, by all appearances, is unsure of how to proceed in its response to Khashoggi’s murder; while officials have been promising to clamp down hard with possible sanctions, little meaningful action has been taken.

A former CIA case officer and intelligence analyst for CNN claimed the Trump administration is helping the Saudis cover up Jamal Khashoggi’s murder.

Speaking to CNN’s Jake Tapper on Tuesday, Bob Baer, who worked at a CIA case officer primarily in the Middle East, said the US has purposely muted its response to journalist Jamal Khashoggi’s murder.

“We’ve always turned a blind eye to what’s going on in Saudi Arabia,” he told CNN Tuesday.

Khashoggi, a Washington Post contributor and US resident, was murdered after entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on October 2. Saudi Arabia has repeatedly shifted its version of the events that transpired that day, and it has fired five top officials and arrested 18 Saudis it says are connected to the killing.

Still, Khashoggi’s body has not been returned, and audio recordings circulating around government agencies appear to indicate that that someone senior, possibly Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, had ordered the killing.

According to The New York Times, the tape allegedly records Khashoggi’s last moments, and catches one of his killers call his superior on the phone and tell the person to “tell your boss” that “the deed was done.“

“The way Saudi Arabia is run today, Mohammed bin Salman is an autocrat,” Baer said. “Security services, the rest of the country, he’s in control.”

While Turkish and US officials, including US National Security Adviser John Bolton, have said that the audio does not conclusively implicate Prince Mohammed, Baer suggested it is unlikely that anyone else in the Kingdom would have the authority to order such an operation. Bolton has said he has not heard the tape himself.

“The Saudis do not have rogue operations ever,” Baer said. “It’s never occured. The chances that Mohammed bin Salman ordered this, we’re hitting 100%.”

The Trump administration, by all appearances, is unsure of how to proceed in its response to Khashoggi’s murder; while officials have been promising to clamp down hard with possible sanctions against senior Saudi leaders, little action has been taken, likely due to the deep economic ties between Washington and Riyadh.

“At this point, the White House doesn’t see a way out. Saudi Arabia is a volcano and to try and push the Crown Prince out, we don’t have any players [in Saudi Arabia] on our side, so we don’t know what to do,” Baer said. “So we have a psychopath sitting in Riyadh controlling the country.”

Prince Mohammed has tightened his grip in the last year since being appointed Crown Prince last June at the age of 31. His massive purge of more than 200 influential Saudi figures, many of whom were members of the Saudi royal family, silenced dissenting voices and cemented his status as Saudi Arabia’s most powerful figure.

“No Saudi prince has ever done this ever in its history,” Baer said. “I think what worries the White House is this country could pop, and what would we do then?” </s> When asked to confirm that Khashoggi is not inside the consulate, the crown prince told Bloomberg, "Yes, he's not inside."

"My understanding is he entered and he got out after a few minutes or one hour. I'm not sure. We are investigating this through the foreign ministry to see exactly what happened at that time," he told Bloomberg at the time.

It also contradicts the Saudi government's earlier account of events. Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman previously told Bloomberg that the dissident journalist left the consulate shortly after he arrived .

That explanation counters multiple reports of how Khashoggi died. Turkish officials told The New York Times that it has audio evidence which proves Khashoggi was tortured, killed and subsequently dismembered by a hit team of Saudi agents.

The government said that Khashoggi got into a fight with the people he met at the consulate in Istanbul, Turkey on Oct. 2. The kingdom alleged that Khashoggi died in that clash.

A man holds a poster of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi during a protest organized by members of the Turkish-Arabic Media Association at the entrance to Saudi Arabia's consulate on October 8, 2018 in Istanbul, Turkey.

The kingdom also fired Deputy Chief of General Intelligence Ahmad bin Hassan Asiri and royal court advisor Abdullah Al-Qahtani. The kingdom also said a committee would be formed to restructure its intelligence agency under the supervision of Prince Mohammed, "to modernize its regulations and define its powers precisely."

On Thursday, The New York Times reported that Saudi officials close to the crown prince planned on blaming Asiri for Khashoggi's death. The Times said by making Asiri a scapegoat, the government could help shield the crown prince from blame.

Through its state press, the kingdom said it has detained 18 Saudi nationals after preliminary investigations linked them to the case.

Saudi Arabia said it "is taking the necessary measures to clarify the circumstances in the case of Saudi citizen Jamal Khashoggi" and that "all those involved will be brought to justice."

White House press secretary Sarah Sanders issued the following statement:

"The United States acknowledges the announcement from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia that its investigation into the fate of Jamal Khashoggi is progressing and that it has taken action against the suspects it has identified thus far. We will continue to closely follow the international investigations into this tragic incident and advocate for justice that is timely, transparent, and in accordance with all due process. We are saddened to hear confirmation of Mr. Khashoggi's death, and we offer our deepest condolences to his family, fiancée, and friends."

In the weeks following Khashoggi's disappearance, the international community increasingly pressed Saudi Arabia for the dissident's whereabouts. U.S. President Donald Trump also faced mounting criticism for being too soft in his response. On Thursday, Trump acknowledged Khashoggi was likely dead and said he would consider "very severe consequences" if Saudi Arabia is found responsible.

But Trump's resistance to act swiftly sparked comparisons to how he has spoken deferentially about other autocratic leaders accused of human rights abuses, such as Russia's Vladimir Putin and North Korea's Kim Jong Un. On Tuesday, the president told The Associated Press that he saw a case of "you're guilty until proven innocent."

Trump on Friday called the arrests a "good first step." Yet he also mentioned that he would be reluctant to undo arms deals with the kingdom if the U.S. were to slap Saudi Arabia with sanctions over Khashoggi's death.

Vice President Mike Pence said that the U.S. will not "solely rely" on information provided by Saudi Arabia, a longtime U.S. ally in the Middle East.

Several members of Congress have called for swift sanctions on oil-rich Saudi Arabia in the uproar over Khashoggi. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., quickly expressed his doubts about the Saudi account of the journalist's death, saying "It's hard to find this latest 'explanation' as credible."

The announcement comes more than two weeks after Khashoggi was last seen in public, entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. Khashoggi was a frequent critic of Saudi Arabia's royal family and wrote columns for The Washington Post.

In his last column for the Post, Khashoggi highlighted the need for independent and free press in Arab nations. He said the international community had turned a blind eye to the increasing rate at which Arab governments were silencing the press.

"These actions no longer carry the consequence of a backlash from the international community. Instead, these actions may trigger condemnation quickly followed by silence," Khashoggi wrote.

— CNBC's Jacob Pramuk, Christina Wilkie and Kevin Breuninger contributed to this report. </s> The CIA has determined that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman personally ordered the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, despite the Saudi government’s denials that the de facto ruler was involved, according to a Washington Post report.

Citing people familiar with the matter, the Post reported Friday that the CIA reached its conclusion by examining several sources of intelligence. According to the Post, US officials have high confidence in the CIA’s assessment.

A spokesman for the CIA declined to comment to the Post. The Saudi government has denied bin Salman’s involvement in Khashoggi’s death.

Fatimah Baeshen, a spokeswoman for the Saudi Embassy in Washington, told the newspaper that the claims in the CIA’s “purported assessment are false.”

“We have and continue to hear various theories without seeing the primary basis for these speculations,” she told the Post.

Khashoggi, a former Saudi royal insider who became a critic of the country’s government, went missing in October after he visited the Saudi consulate in Istanbul to obtain papers for his upcoming marriage. The Saudi government offered changing explanations for Khashoggi’s disappearance.

Included in the US intelligence analyzed by the CIA was a phone call the prince’s brother Khalid bin Salman made to Khashoggi, encouraging the journalist to make the trip to the consulate to get the documents, according to the Post. Sources told the Post that Khalid made the call at his brother’s command.

Khalid denied the Post’s reporting, saying on Twitter that he had never spoken to Khashoggi by phone.

“I never talked to him by phone and certainly never suggested he go to Turkey for any reason. I ask the US government to release any information regarding this claim,” Khalid said.

He said the last contact he’d had with Khashoggi was via text in October 2017.

Baeshen told the Post that Khalid, who is the Saudi ambassador to the US, and Khashoggi never discussed “anything related to going to Turkey.”

The CIA also examined an audio recording from inside the Saudi consulate provided by Turkey and a phone call placed from inside the consulate after Khashoggi was killed, according to the Post.

Maher Mutreb, an alleged member of the Saudi hit team and a security official for the crown prince, placed the phone call to a top aide for bin Salman informing the aide that the job had been done, people familiar with the call told the newspaper.

According to the Post, the CIA also based its conclusion on its evaluation of bin Salman as a leader who is involved in minor matters.

The CIA does not know the location of Khashoggi’s remains, according to the Post.

The Trump administration on Thursday imposed penalties on 17 individuals over their alleged roles in the killing of Khashoggi. Khashoggi’s assassination has created a crisis for the Trump administration and drawn attention to President Donald Trump’s business ties to Saudi Arabia and the relationship between bin Salman and Trump’s son-in-law and senior adviser, Jared Kushner.

Earlier Thursday, the Saudi Public Prosecutor’s Office said 11 people had been charged for their involvement in the death of Khashoggi, adding that five are facing capital punishment for being directly involved in “ordering and executing the crime.”

Khashoggi was killed following “a fight and a quarrel” at the Saudi consulate, the prosecutor’s office claimed. Prosecutors said Khashoggi was tied up and injected with an overdose of a sedative that killed him. Then, according to prosecutors, his body was dismembered and removed from the consulate by five people.
Former Secret Intelligence Service head John Sawers says that Saudi Arabian crown prince Mohammad bin Salman was behind the death of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.