Khashoggi’s killers had paramilitary training in US: report

Washington: 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, the New York Times reported on Tuesday.

The training was provided by the Arkansas-based security company Tier 1 Group, which is owned by the private equity firm Cerberus Capital Management, and was defensive in nature and devised to protect Saudi leaders, the report said.

Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2011.Credit: AP

Cerberus did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Reuters.

There is no evidence that US officials who approved the training or Tier 1 Group knew the Saudis were involved in the crackdown in Saudi Arabia.

On October 2, 2018, Khashoggi, a Saudi citizen, had gone to the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, Turkey to pick up documents needed for his wedding.

Once inside, he died at the hands of more than a dozen Saudi security and intelligence officials and others who had assembled ahead of his arrival.

His death set off a diplomatic firestorm between the US and Saudi Arabia, raising questions about respect for human rights by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

In response to the Times report, State Department spokesman Ned Price said under the law the department cannot comment “on any of the licensed defence export licensing activity alleged in media reporting.”

Price also said US policy towards Saudi Arabia “will prioritise the rule of law and respect for human rights.”

A US intelligence report in February said the crown prince had approved an operation to capture or kill the journalist.

Cerberus senior executive Louis Bremer confirmed his company’s role in the training of four members of the Khashoggi kill team last year in written answers to questions from members of Congress as part of his nomination for a senior Pentagon job in former president Donald Trump’s administration, according to the Times.

But the Congress members never received the answers because the Trump administration does not appear to have sent them to Congress before withdrawing Bremer’s nomination, according to the Times, which said Bremer was provided it with the document.

Bremer said the US State Department and other government agencies were responsible for vetting foreign forces trained on US soil, the Times.

Reuters