Bahrain, Kuwait, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on Saturday supportedSaudi Arabia in rejecting a CIA report on the murder of journalist JamalKhashoggi.
The move came a day after the CIA released an unclassified report thatblamed Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman for the 2018 murder ofWashington Post columnist Khashoggi in Istanbul.
The report concluded that bin Salman approved “to capture or kill”Khashoggi since he considered him a “threat to the kingdom” and alsoapproved the use of violent measures if necessary to silence him.
The Saudi Foreign Ministry issued a statement rejecting the report,describing it as “negative, false and unacceptable”, adding that itcontained “inaccurate information and conclusions”.
In a statement, the Bahraini Foreign Ministry endorsed the Saudi rejectionof the report, pointing out the “central role” played by Saudi Arabia onregional and international matters.
The Kuwaiti Foreign Ministry, for its part, lauded the kingdom’s role incombating “violence and extremism and its relentless support for securityand stability in the region and across the globe”.
The UAE also defended Saudi Arabia, expressing confidence in the kingdom’sjudiciary and its “commitment to enforcing the law in a transparent andimpartial manner, and holding accountable all those involved in this case”.
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The head of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), Yousef bin AhmadAl-Othaimeen, also voiced support for the Saudi statement.
According to a report by Saudi SPA News Agency, Al-Othaimeen said herejects the “inaccurate deductions cited in the report, which has nodecisive proofs.”
Al-Othaimeen said he supports all judicial measures that have been takenagainst the culprits in the crime and against whom verdicts have beenissued.
Khashoggi was brutally killed and likely dismembered inside the Saudiconsulate in Istanbul in October 2018, and while Saudi officials initiallydenied any role in his death, they later sought to pin blame on what theysaid was a botched rendition operation.
Former US President Donald Trump consistently sought to shield the Saudileader from repercussions amid widespread bipartisan outcry by blocking therelease of the CIA report.
