Government Panel Had Recommended Declassified Release Of Khashoggi Murder Report By The White House
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Roshan Amiri
- . September 29, 2022
- . Update: October 1, 2022 1:16 am
Government recommendations are coming to advise Joe Biden to declassify the murder report of the Middle East and Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi, who was apparently killed while he was in the Saudi Consulate in 2018.
These recommendations are made by the Public Interest Declassification Board, a panel of experts selected by presidents and congressional leaders to advocate for more transparency around national security information.
The same were made in July this year, just before Biden was to make a visit to the Saudi Arabia. While he said that he did confront Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman over the allegations of the murder of an American journalist within the consulate of the Kingdom, the blow was kept subtle. The American President’s visit was being made to show a softener stance of the Biden administration towards the Kingdom.
In February last year, the White House had cleared the release of a long-delayed intelligence report that concluded the crown prince ordered the operation that led to Khashoggi’s death in 2018.
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Things as they stand, look difficult for the Biden administration as the growing power of the Kingdom is being seen as a major point of balance amongst the Middle Eastern nations.
Post the release of the report in February, the US had placed sanctions and travel bans on a number of Saudi security officials, however, stopped short of sanctioning the crown prince himself. As it stands now, the potential to sanction Mohammed bin Salman may be even more difficult now, after his elevation to the position of prime minister of Saudi Arabia earlier this week. The role of prime minister is traditionally reserved for the king of Saudi Arabia.
The government panel consists of nine members, five of whom are presidentially appointed while the remaining four are selected by majority and minority leaders of each chamber of Congress. It was unanimous in its recommendations.
