New York: Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said in a television interview that he takes ‘full responsibility’ for the grisly killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, but he denied allegations that he ordered it.
“This (killing of Jamal Khashoggi) was a heinous crime,” Prince Mohammed, 34, told ‘60 Minutes’ in an interview that was aired Sunday. But I take full responsibility as a leader in Saudi Arabia, especially since it was committed by individuals working for the Saudi government,” he added.
Asked if he ordered the killing of Jamal Khashoggi, who had criticised the Crown Prince in columns for ‘The Washington Post’, Prince Mohammed replied: “Absolutely not. The slaying was a mistake.”
Khashoggi entered the Saudi consulate in Turkey October 2, 2018, to collect a document that he needed to marry his Turkish fiancée. Agents of the Saudi government killed Khashoggi inside the consulate and apparently dismembered his body, which has never been found.
Saudi Arabia has charged 11 people in the slaying and put them on trial, which has been held in secret. As of yet, no one has been convicted.
A UN report asserted that Saudi Arabia bore responsibility for the killing and said Prince Mohammed’s possible role in it should be investigated. In Washington, Congress has said it believes Prince Mohammed is ‘responsible for the murder of Jamal Khashoggi’.
Saudi Arabia has long insisted the crown prince had no involvement in an operation that included agents who reported directly to him.
“Some think that I should know what three million people working for the Saudi government do daily,” Prince Mohammed said. “It’s impossible that the three million would send their daily reports to the leader or the second-highest person in the Saudi government.”
In an interview Thursday, Khashoggi’s fiancee, Hatice Cengiz, told this agency that responsibility for Khashoggi’s slaying ‘was not limited to the perpetrators’ and said she wanted Prince Mohammed to tell her: “Why was Jamal killed? Where is his body? What was the motive for this murder?””
Prince Mohammed also addressed the September 14 missile and drone attack on Saudi oil facilities. While Yemen’s Iranian-allied Houthi rebels claimed the assault, Saudi Arabia has said it was ‘unquestionably sponsored by Iran’.
“There is no strategic goal,” Prince Mohammed said of the attack. “Only a fool would attack five per cent of global supplies. The only strategic goal is to prove that they are stupid and that is what they did,” he added.
AP