Saudi agents involved in the murder of journalist Khashoggi are said to have received military training in the United States. That reports the "New York Times". The US government approved the training.
Four Saudi agents involved in the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, who was considered a louse in the fur by the government of Saudi Arabia, are said to have received paramilitary training in the United States. The training took place in 2017, a year before Khashoggi's murder, the New York Times reports, citing relevant documents and people familiar with the case. Two of the men attended such training from October 2014 to January 2015. According to the report, the training took place with the approval of the US government under then-President Barack Obama.
Murder in the Istanbul Consulate:
Khashoggi was killed in the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul on October 2, 2018 by a special command of 15 men from Riyadh. His body was badly beaten. The leadership of the Islamic-conservative kingdom was subjected to sharp criticism.
In late February, the United States released a secret service report that held Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman directly responsible for Khashoggi's murder. The Crown Prince is said to have ordered Khashoggi to be captured or killed.
Failed mission to arrest him:
Saudi Arabia initially denied Khashoggi's murder, but eventually admitted under international pressure that they killed Khashoggi "in a failed mission to arrest him". However, the kingdom firmly rejected any involvement of Crown Prince Salman.
Later, a trial sentenced five Saudi citizens to death and three others to prison terms for Khashoggi's murder. The death sentences have since been commuted to prison terms.
Training not linked to the assassination:
The US State Department has authorized training of the Saudi Royal Guard to be conducted by the private US security firm "Tier 1 Group," the New York Times reported. The newspaper quoted these statements from a senior manager of "Cerberus Capital Management", the parent company of the security company.
He agreed with the Pentagon at the time that the training of the Saudi agents was for self-defense, so the training of the men has no connection with "their later heinous acts".
US Congress received no answers:
Last year, the Cerberus manager responded in writing to questions from US Congress members about his company's role in training the men. But the MPs never received his answers because the administration under Donald Trump apparently failed to forward them to Congress, according to the "New York Times."
Washington Post columnist lived in US exile:
Khashoggi, a US citizen, wrote columns for the Washington Post before he died. In it, he often criticized the Saudi monarchy, regularly making fun of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. The journalist lived in exile in the US, while in Saudi Arabia human rights activists, writers and opponents of Saudi involvement in the Yemeni civil war were brutally dealt with.
The Washington Post previously wrote about "their suspicion" that Kashoggi's assassination squad was trained in the US.
Source:
https://www.tagesschau.de/ausland/amerika/khashoggi-mord-taeter-usa-101.html