Saudi Arabia’s crown prince approved an operation in 2018 to “capture or kill Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi,” according to a report from the U.S. intelligence community released Friday.
When asked about whether the report will damage the already complicated relations between the traditional allies, Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines told NPR that “it’s too soon to tell.”
“It’s not a surprise to see a shift in the relations with a new administration,” she said in an exclusive interview with NPR’s Mary Louise Kelly minutes after the report was released. “I think there will be ways to weather the storms ahead of us.”
The report states that it based its assessment “on the Crown Prince’s control of decisionmaking in the Kingdom since 2017, the direct involvement of a key adviser and members of Muhammad bin Salman’s protective detail in the operation, and the Crown Prince’s support for using violent measures to silence dissidents abroad, including Khashoggi.”
