SAUDI AGENTS WHO SLEW KHASHOGGI GOT US PARAMILITARY TRAINING

Four Saudis who participated in the 2018 killing of the Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi received paramilitary training in the United States the previous year under a contract approved by the State Department, according to documents and people familiar with the arrangement.

The instruction occurred as the secret unit responsible for Khashoggi’s killing was beginning an extensive campaign of kidnapping, detention, and torture of Saudi citizens ordered by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler, to crush dissent in the kingdom.

In a report for the New York Times, Mark Mazzetti, Julian E. Barnes and Michael LaForgia said the training was backed by the White House, which was then working to win billions of dollars worth of warplanes, weapons and missiles for Riyadh.

Khashoggi’s murder was pinned by the Biden administration on the Saudi royal family, which was also involved in transporting the murderers to Turkey aboard business jets controlled by the Saudi Crown Prince. The US has not tagged Mohammed bin Salman as the mastermind of Khashoggi’s murder.

WEEKLY FEATURE : PAL READY TO SOAR WITH PANDEMIC