The four people involved in the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018 had received paramilitary training in the United States, which had been approved by the State Department.
The New York Times reported that the four operatives received training from a private security group—Tier 1 group. The move was first authorised by the administration of former president Barack Obama’s administration in 2014 and lasted at least till the beginning of Donald Trump’s presidency.
Khashoggi, who wrote for the Washington Post was murdered on October 2, in the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul. The Saudi-born US resident was formerly close to Saudi royalty but wrote critically about the royal family.
Khashoggi’s remains were never found.
An intelligence report released by the Biden administration on February 25 said that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman approved the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018.
Saudi enjoyed a comfortable relationship with the US in the last four years under the Trump administration.
In December 2019, Saudi Arabia sentenced five men to death and three others to jail terms on charges of killing Jamal Khashoggi.
There is very little evidence linking the crown prince to the Khashoggi murder.
According to a report released in February, seven members of an elite unit tasked with protecting Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman were involved in the killing of Khashoggi. It is not clear whether the four operatives, who were trained in the US, belonged to this unit.
