British intelligence knew about the plans for the kidnapping of dissident Jamal Hashadzhi by Saudi special services, The Daily Express writes, citing sources.
According to the publication, the order for the abduction of Khashkadzhi came from the "royal circle", but the intelligence services did not have any information about the involvement of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in this case. It is not known whether the prince knew about this operation at all, the source of the publication explained.
A source close to Khashkadzhi told the publication that he was about to make public information about Saudi Arabia’s use of chemical weapons in Yemen.
The British intelligence services received information about the details of the special operation against Khashkadzhi in early September, about three weeks before he entered the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on October 2.
“These details included the primary order to seize Mr. Hashadzhi and return him to Saudi Arabia for interrogation. At the same time, it seems, the door was left open for alternative ways to solve this big problem, ”a source said.
“We know that the orders came from a member of the royal circle, but we have no information about the involvement of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. We cannot say whether he was the initiator of this case, ”the source explained.
A high-ranking source of the publication confirmed that on October 1, MI-6 (foreign intelligence intelligence) detected the nomination of a group that participated in the operation and asked its Saudi colleagues to cancel the operation, but this request was ignored.
According to Tom Wilson from the Henry Jackson think tank, "Jamal Hashkaji’s deceptive image hides more than it shows." Wilson recalled that Hashkadzhi was a "Saudi regime insider"; he was close to the former head of Saudi Arabian intelligence. In addition, Hashkaji was an Islamist, a member of the radical Muslim Brotherhood organization and a personal friend of Al Qaeda’s head Osama bin Laden, expressed sympathy for his jihad in Afghanistan, Wilson recalled.
On October 2, Hashkaji entered the consulate of Saudi Arabia in Istanbul and did not leave there. The Turkish side, including President Recep Erdogan, was soon announced that Khashkaji was killed at the consulate. Saudi Arabia acknowledged that Hashkaji was killed only after October 20. The country's prosecutor general, Sheikh Saud al-Muadjib, admitted that a deliberate murder had occurred, and a joint group of two countries was investigating him.
The assassination of Hashkaji, which was presented by many world media as a journalist, caused a great international response, especially in connection with Riyadh’s close ties with Washington and the administration of President Donald Trump.
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