The CIA has obtained a phone call recording of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman ordering his brother to 'silence Jamal Khashoggi as soon as possible', Hürriyet Daily News reported on Thursday.
According to a Hürriyet columinist, CIA Director Gina Haspel indicated during a trip to Ankara in October that the purported recording features a conversation between MBS and his brother Khaled bin Salman, the Saudi ambassador to the United States. The brothers were allegedly discussing the 'discomfort' stemming from Khashoggi’s public criticism of Riyadh's policies.
The CIA and Riyadh have yet to comment on the report.
Jamal Khashoggi, a Saudi journalist and Washington Post contributor, was killed in the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul on October 2. The Saudi Prosecutor's Office said that he was dismembered after being restrained and heavily drugged. Riyadh insists that Khashoggi's murder was a "rogue operation" and announced that it had arrested 21 suspects, including senior military officials, and charged 11 of them. Five suspects are facing the death penalty if they are found guilty.
The scandal surrounding Khashoggi's murder, which has drawn plenty of criticism from the international community, has reportedly prompted the royal family to seek replacing bin Salman, who is placed first in the line of succession. Riyadh rushed to dispel the rumours, however, with Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir calling the reports 'outrageous' and 'totally unacceptable'.
