Trump Gave Pass for Khashoggi Murder: Former CIA Chief

The Trump administration effectively allowed Saudi Arabia to kill Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018 by failing to hold Riyadh to account after the gruesome killing, former CIA chief John Brennan has said.

“We have to hold the Saudis as well as others to account for any type of human rights atrocities, But Donald Trump and Jared Kushner and the White House have given MBS, a pass for that horrific murder and dismemberment of Jamal Khashoggi,” Brennan said in a CNN interview aired on Friday, adding that the president “sees life and the world through a prism of dollar sides”.

Brennan, who headed the CIA between 2013 and 2017, described Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman as “a quintessential authoritarian leader” who has “incarcerated and suppressed many Saudis, including activists and women activists in the Kingdom with widespread reports of maltreatment.

“And this is something that unfortunately Donald Trump has turned a blind eye to.”

The former intelligence chief indicated that he believes Prince Mohammed was behind the gruesome killing.

“Having lived and worked in Saudi Arabia for five years, I know that that murder would not have been carried out unless it was authorised by the highest authority,” Brennan said, echoing earlier reports that the CIA had concluded that MbS had personally ordered Khashoggi’s killing.

Source: Agencies

Y.A