Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman
Two men with little to no qualifications, Saud el-Qahtani (40), and Turki al-Sheikh (37), are the loyal puppets of Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS), according to an article published by the New York Times.
Qahtani, who is the aide of the crown prince, and Sheikh, the Kingdom’s sports commissioner, are the “closest people to the crown prince,” and played significant roles in carrying out their master’s bidding in his shocking power plays.
“The ouster of the previous crown prince, the detentions of royals and businessmen in the Riyadh Ritz-Carlton, the kidnapping of the Lebanese prime minister, and the kingdom’s diplomatic spats with Qatar and Canada,” were all headed by these two men, the article titled “Behind a Saudi Prince’s Rise, Two Loyal Enforcers,” states.
“Even Saudi royals have come to fear the prince’s two friends.”
A former CIA case officer is claiming that the Trump administration is helping cover up the involvement of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in last month’s killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.Speaking to CNN on Tuesday, Bob Baer, who worked at a CIA case officer primarily in the Middle East, said the U.S. has purposely muted its response to Khashoggi's murder."We've always turned a blind eye to what's going on in Saudi Arabia. The way Saudi Arabia is run today, Mohammed bin Salman is an autocrat. Security services, the rest of the country, he's in control," he said.Baer suggested it is unlikely that anyone besides bin Salman would have the authority to order such an operation."The Saudis don’t have rogue operations ever. It's never occurred. The chances that Mohammed bin Salman ordered this, we are hitting 100 percent," Baer said."At this point, the White House doesn't see a way out,” he said, claiming that there is no clear way to sideline what he called the “psychopath sitting in Riyadh controlling the country.""No Saudi prince has ever done this ever in its history. I think what worries the White House is this country could pop, and what would we do then?" he asked.World wondering who ordered Khashoggi killing, says AK Party spoxUS aide: No bin Salman linkSeparately, the U.S. national security advisor said audiotapes of the Khashoggi killing don’t link back to bin Salman.“I have not listened to the tape myself, but in the assessment of those who have listened to it, it doesn’t, in any way, link the crown prince to the killing. That isn’t the conclusion that the people who have heard it have come to,” John Bolton told reporters late Tuesday at a summit of southeast Asian nations in Singapore.Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said audio recordings related to the Oct. 2 killing at the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul have been shared with Saudi Arabia and other countries, including the U.S., U.K., France, and Germany.An article in Tuesday’s New York Times also claimed that a member of the Saudi “kill team” instructed a superior over the phone to “tell your boss” -- believed to refer to bin Salman -- that the operatives had carried out their mission, according to three people familiar with a Turkish recording of Khashoggi’s killing.Khashoggi, a Saudi journalist and columnist for The Washington Post, went missing on Oct. 2 after entering the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul.After weeks of denying involvement, the kingdom admitted Khashoggi had been killed at the consulate, and later arrested 18 people, including security officers, in connection with the case.
White House covering for bin Salman: Ex-CIA officer
The Khashoggi murder
Now, the heads of these two men may be on the chopping block to save the prince’s name, which has been dragged through the mud during the past month over the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, who was murdered at the Consulate of Saudi Arabia in Turkey’s Istanbul on Oct. 2.
Khashoggi had previously told Newsweek that MBS “does not have political advisers except Turki al-Sheikh and Saud al-Qahtani.”
“They are very thuggish. People fear them. You challenge them, you might end up in prison,” said Khashoggi, who was a critic of Prince Salman.
Both these “loyal enforcers” were educated inside the Kingdom with meager experience abroad.
The world is wondering who “at the top” had ordered the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, said Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development (AK) Party deputy leader and spokesman Ömer Çelik on Wednesday.“This could not have been done without an order from the top. The world wants to know: Who gave the order from the top?” Çelik said. During a televised speech, Çelik said Turkey firmly condemns French FM Jean-Yves le Drian's remarks that were critical of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s handling of Jamal Khashoggi case.Khashoggi, a critic of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, was killed at the kingdom's Istanbul consulate by a team sent from Riyadh. Saudi authorities have acknowledged that the killing was premeditated, but his body has not been found.US lawmakers expect votes on steps to crack down on Saudi ArabiaReferring to a remark made by French President about the need for a European army, Çelik said the debate over the proposal clearly shows cracks in transatlantic alliance.“Security of Balkans, Europe would not possible without Turkey, no matter with a NATO or a European army,” said Çelik.Discussing the threat from cyber-hacking and outside meddling in the electoral process, Macron said Europe needed to protect itself against China, Russia "and even the United States".Later in the interview he spoke about the need for a European army, saying:"Faced by Russia, which is on our borders and which has shown that it can be threatening... we need to have a Europe that can better defend itself by itself, without depending solely on the United States."‘Turkey can play bigger role in new global order’
World wondering who ordered Khashoggi killing, says AK Party spox
Qahtani has already been sacked due to the rhetoric toward the kingdom’s critics that led to Khashoggi’s death, said a Saudi official, while Sheikh is laying low.
Saudi Arabia, after weeks of denying the journalist’s murder, said that he had died in a botched up interrogation. It later changed its story after evidence came to light showing that the murder was premeditated. It also said it had arrested 18 people—15 of whom are Saudi agents who were at the consulate on the same day as Khashoggi--, who are involved in the killing.
Neither is among the 18 people Saudi Arabia said it arrested regarding the probe investigating Khashoggi’s murder.
U.S. lawmakers said on Tuesday the Senate could vote within weeks on legislation to punish Saudi Arabia over the war in Yemen and the death of a journalist at its consulate in Istanbul.Senator Bob Corker, the Republican chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said the Senate could vote before the end of the year on a resolution seeking to cut off all assistance to Saudi Arabia for the war in Yemen.He said it was also possible that measures to prevent arms sales to Riyadh would make it to the Senate floor."Senators are looking for some way to show Saudi Arabia the disdain they have for what has happened, with the journalist, but also concerns about the way Yemen has gone," Corker told Reuters as lawmakers returned to Washington for the first time since last week's congressional elections.The killing of prominent Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi consulate in Turkey has heightened concerns in Congress about the Riyadh government, already raised by the war in Yemen, particularly over civilians killed in Saudi attacks."It would be very hard, if a weapons sale came up, to keep it from being undone, at least in the Senate," Corker said.Gulf Arab states have been battling since 2015 to restore a government driven out by the Houthis, Shi'ite Muslim fighters that Yemen's neighbors view as agents of Iran. The war has killed more than 10,000 people and created the world's most urgent humanitarian emergency.Corker said his staff had asked that Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis and CIA Director Gina Haspel come to the Capitol as soon as late November for a classified briefing to address concerns about Yemen and Khashoggi's death.Trump's Republicans kept control of the Senate in the Nov. 6 elections but lost their majority in the House of Representatives to Democrats.Republicans will remain in charge of the House until the new Congress is seated in January, however, and voted on Tuesday to stop legislation in committee that would have ended U.S. support for the war in Yemen.House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi signaled that things could change when Democrats take over, if not before."Real, immediate action must be taken by Congress to end this horrific humanitarian crisis," she said in a statement.
US lawmakers expect votes on steps to crack down on Saudi Arabia
Turkey has shared recordings related to the killing of Khashoggi, which Turkey has shared with its Western allies.
Last month two separate intelligence sources said that Qahtani gave orders over Skype to Khashoggi's killers at the consulate. More recently, a government source familiar with the matter said Qahtani featured prominently throughout the recordings.
Khashoggi's murder has provoked global outrage but little concrete action by major powers against Saudi Arabia, the world's largest oil exporter and a strong proponent of U.S. policy to contain Iranian influence across the Middle East.
U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday nominated a retired Army general to be the country's ambassador to Saudi Arabia, as Washington faces pressure to respond to the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.The White House said Trump has chosen John Abizaid, who as a four-star Army general led the U.S. Central Command during the Iraq war, to be Washington's ambassador in Riyadh. Abizaid must be confirmed by the U.S. Senate.In addition to the scandal over Khashoggi's death, Washington is also grappling with criticism from U.S. lawmakers over its support for Saudi Arabia's military intervention in Yemen's civil war.The United States has not had an ambassador to Saudi Arabia since Trump took office in January 2017.Khashoggi, a Washington Post columnist critical of Saudi leaders, was killed on Oct. 2.Saudi Arabia initially denied any knowledge or involvement in Khashoggi's killing, but a Saudi public prosecutor later said it was planned in advance.Trump has expressed reluctance to punish Saudi Arabia economically, citing its multibillion-dollar purchases of military equipment and investments in U.S. firms.White House national security adviser John Bolton said on Tuesday he does not think recordings related to Khashoggi's killing, which were shared by Turkey, implicate Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.Abizaid is currently a visiting fellow at Stanford University's Hoover Institution and works as a private consultant at JPA Associates, the White House said. 
Trump to nominate retired Army general as US ambassador to Saudi Arabia
President Tayyip Erdoğan said recordings related to the killing of Jamal Khashoggi, which Turkey has shared with Western allies, are "appalling" and shocked a Saudi intelligence officer who listened to them, Turkish media reported on Tuesday.Khashoggi, a critic of de facto Saudi ruler Prince Mohammed bin Salman, was killed in Saudi Arabia's Istanbul consulate last month in a hit which Erdoğan says was ordered at the "highest levels" of the Saudi government.Erdoğan told reporters on his plane returning from a weekend visit to France that he discussed the Saudi journalist's killing with the U.S., French and German leaders at dinner in Paris."We played the recordings regarding this murder to everyone who wanted them from us. Our intelligence organisation did not hide anything. We played them to all who wanted them including the Saudis, the USA, France, Canada, Germany, Britain," he said.UK presses Saudi Arabia for Khashoggi murderers"The recordings are really appalling. Indeed when the Saudi intelligence officer listened to the recordings he was so shocked he said: 'This one must have taken heroin, only someone who takes who heroin would do this," he added.Khashoggi's killing has provoked global outrage but little concrete action by world powers against Saudi Arabia, the world's largest oil exporter and a supporter of Washington's plans to contain Iranian influence across the Middle East.Erdoğan said it was clear the murder was planned and that the order came from the top level of Saudi authorities but that he could not think such a thing of King Salman, for whom he has 'limitless respect'."The crown prince says 'I will clarify the matter, I will do what is necessary'. We are waiting patiently," Erdoğan said, adding that the perpetrators of the killing were among 18 suspects detained in Saudi Arabia."It must be revealed who gave them the order to murder."Khashoggi murder recording may implicate Saudi princeErdoğan has not given details of the contents of the tapes but two sources with knowledge of the issue have told Reuters that Turkey has several audio recordings.They include the killing itself and conversations before the operation which Turkey subsequently uncovered, the sources said. These had led Ankara to conclude from an early stage that the killing was premeditated, despite Saudi Arabia's initial denials of any knowledge or involvement.Saudi Arabia's prosecutor Saud al-Mojeb has since said Khashoggi's killing was planned in advance, although another Saudi official said Prince Mohammed had no knowledge of the specific operation.Pressing to resolve the Halkbank issue Regarding his conversation with U.S. President Donald Trump, Erdoğan said they discussed the Halkbank issue and agreed to resume talks to resolve it. “Mr. Trump instructed the respective minister, the Treasury Secretary, to contact our Minister of Finance and Treasury Mr. Berat within 24 hours. They discussed what can be done with regards to this topic.”A U.S. court in May jailed a Halkbank executive for helping Tehran get round U.S. sanctions. Halkbank denies any wrongdoing and Erdoğan has condemned the court case as a political attack on his government.Erdoğan said he brought up the issue of Halkbank again, which prompted the same response from Trump, who said he personally gave orders to the Secretary of Treasury to deal with the issue. “I will give instructions the moment I get back. I thought it was resolved. Why is it taking so long?” Trump said, according to Erdoğan.Different developments east of the EuphratesAddressing questions on Syria, Erdoğan praised Turkey’s efforts in Idlib which helped avert disaster in the heavily-populated opposition stronghold.“We attached great importance to the Idlib issue. Our successes there are appreciated.” Ankara and Moscow signed a memorandum of understanding calling for the “stabilization” of Idlib's de-escalation zone, in which acts of aggression are expressly prohibited.Under the deal, opposition groups in Idlib will remain in areas in which they are already present, while Russia and Turkey will conduct joint patrols in the area with a view to preventing renewed fighting.Syria has only just begun to emerge from a devastating conflict that began in 2011 when the Assad regime cracked down on demonstrators with unexpected ferocity. “It seems to me that there’s a lack of communication with regards to issues relating to the YPG. I said ‘there are many things we can do together in this regard.’ You see, we’re unable to resolve the east of the Euphrates issue and there are different developments there.” Erdoğan has repeatedly vowed to eradicate the east of the Euphrates River in Syria from terrorists of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK)’s Syrian affiliate, the YPG.
Erdoğan says Khashoggi recordings 'appalling', shocked Saudi intelligence
A telephone call between an alleged killer of Jamal Khashoggi and his superior may implicate Saudi crown prince in the murder of the the journalist, the New York Times reported Monday."A member of the kill team instructed a superior over the phone to 'tell your boss,' believed to be Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, that the operatives had carried out their mission," said the newspaper.It quoted three people familiar with a recording of Khashoggi’s murder collected by Turkish intelligence, which "is seen by intelligence officials as some of the strongest evidence" linking bin Salman to Khashoggi’s killing."While the prince was not mentioned by name, American intelligence officials believe 'your boss' was a reference to Prince Mohammed," it said.Maher Abdulaziz Mutreb, one of 15 Saudis in the hit squad sent to Istanbul to confront Khashoggi, made the telephone call and spoke in Arabic, according to the report.The newspaper said Turkish intelligence told American officials it believes Mutreb was speaking to one of the prince’s aides.Germany receives recordings on Khashoggi from TurkeyTrudeau: Canada has heard Turkish recordings on Khashoggi's killing"While translations of the Arabic may differ, those briefed on the call said Mr. Mutreb also said to the aide words to the effect of 'the deed was done'," said the Times.The report also quoted Turkish officials as saying the audio does not "conclusively implicate Prince Mohammed.""American intelligence and other government officials have cautioned that however compelling the recording may be, it is still not irrefutable evidence of his involvement in the death of Mr. Khashoggi," it said.Khashoggi, a Saudi national and columnist for The Washington Post, was killed Oct. 2 inside the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul.After weeks of denying involvement, the kingdom admitted Khashoggi had been killed at the consulate but claimed the Saudi royal family had no prior knowledge of a plot to murder him.So far, 18 people, including security officers, have been arrested in Saudi Arabia in connection with the murder.
Tell your boss: Saudi kill team recordings connect Prince Salman to Khashoggi murder