WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 18th July, 2019) The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) should open an investigation into the brutal murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, US Senator Tim Kaine said in a letter to FBI Director Christopher Wray on Wednesday.
"I support the UN report's recommendation and request that the FBI conduct an investigation into Saudi Arabia's state sponsored execution of Mr. Khashoggi," Kaine said in the letter.
Kaine criticized the Trump administration for failing make a determination under the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act of 2016 as to the responsibility for Khashoggi's murder, including the role of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
Khashoggi went missing last October after he entered the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. Riyadh initially denied any knowledge of the journalist's whereabouts but eventually admitted that Khashoggi was killed and dismembered inside the diplomatic mission.
Saudi authorities have charged 11 people in the Khashoggi case, but have repeatedly denied any involvement by the country's royal family in the murder.
US President Donald Trump has accepted Saudi Arabia's claim that the crown prince was not aware of what Riyadh has called a rogue operation in the Khashoggi murder.
On June 19, UN Special Rapporteur Agnes Callamard issued a report calling on UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to launch a follow-up criminal probe of the killing due to "credible evidence" that warrants further investigation of senior Saudi officials, including the crown prince.
