Some recent news came out about members of the Saudi hit-team that assassinated the journalist Jamal Khashoggi in Saudi Arabia's Istanbul consulate last October. According to a report from the Washington Post, it appears that some of the killers got some of their lethal training in the U.S.
A long article written by David Ignatius details the friction to the U.S.-Saudi relationship caused by the murder of Khashoggi. Among the report is information about the training some of the hit-team received as part of the U.S.-Saudi partnership. HIs sources inside both the U.S. and Saudi Arabia told him that training happened as part of *"ongoing liaison".
The training was possibly provided by an Arkansas-based company called Tier 1 Group:
Some members of the Saudi Rapid Intervention Group that was sent to Istanbul received training in the United States, according to U.S. and Saudi sources. The CIA has cautioned other government agencies that some of this special-operations training might have been conducted by Tier 1 Group, an Arkansas-based company, under a State Department license. The training occurred before the Khashoggi incident, as part of ongoing liaison with the Saudis, and it hasn’t been resumed.
A familiar name in the criminal business game also crept up in the WP article. The training program to "modernize the Saudi intelligence service" was put in place by DynCorp with the help of the CIA:
A U.S. plan to train and modernize the Saudi intelligence service is also on hold, pending State Department approval of a license. This project was developed by Culpeper National Security Solutions, a unit of DynCorp, with help from some prominent former CIA officials. No work on the project has been done.
The WP article also mentions how the DynCorp-Culpeper training project was organized by none other than the Saudi deputy chief of intelligence, Maj. Gen. Ahmed al-Assiri, whom the Saudis are investigating for alleged involvement in the plot to assassinate Khashoggi.
One of the Saudi contacts involved in planning the Culpeper training project was Maj. Gen. Ahmed al-Assiri, the Saudi deputy chief of intelligence, who Saudi officials say is under investigation because of his alleged involvement in the Istanbul operation.
Ignatius claims the mastermind behind the Khashoggi hit is the prince's "former aide, Saud al-Qahtani". Saudi Arabia has refused an extradition request form Turkey. Further information obtained seems to indicate an original goal of kidnapping by injecting him with a sedative and placing a bag over his head. Moments later Khashoggi was dead. Then they chopped his body up.
One of the trainees, Maher Mutreb, was the leader of the team that killed Khashoggi who hails from a wealthy Saudi royal family. Strangely, he and Khashoggi had met and developed a "friendly" relationship while both worked in London. More members weer allegedly trained in the U.S., but Ignatius hasn't named anyone else.
According to Bernard Haykel, a Princeton professor who knows Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman , the Saudis think this assassination won't blow over and they are looking to appease Congress:
"The Saudis have internalized the idea that this will not blow over. They want to make good with Congress, but they don’t know how."
But it seems things have blown over well enough for the weapons to keep flowing to Saudi Arabia. The murder scandal put pressure on the Trump to cut ties, but he kept them strong in order to uphold the $100+ billion dollar deal for arms to their Middle East partner.
Then Yemen started to get talked about, and the Senate and Congress tries to get the arms trade diminished in that war, but not much has changed. The U.S. has even payed for things the Saudis were supposed to pay for, like fuel costs to resupply.
The aforementioned security programs to modernize Saudi Arabia's intelligence services have seen some suspension of activity for now. Many politicians are beginning to like at MBS as an "authoritarian 'modernizer'" The prince still refuses to admit any culpability for the hit, denying any orders came from him to carry out the kidnapping or hit. But many experts doubt such actions would have been conducted against a Saudi dissident without MBS having desired it.
References:
- How the mysteries of Khashoggi’s murder have rocked the U.S.-Saudi partnership
- Alleged Khashoggi killers received training in US – report
- Khashoggi killers received training in the United States — report
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