Washington (SD) – Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has ordered the operation to kill opposition journalist Jamal Khashoggi, who was killed in 2018, according to a US intelligence report.

Khashoggi, who lived in the United States and wrote for the Washington Post and was a vocal critic of the crown prince’s policies, was killed and his body dismembered inside the royal consulate in Istanbul.

“We base this assessment on the Crown Prince’s control of decision-making in the kingdom, the direct involvement of a key adviser and members of Muhammed bin Salman’s protective detail in the operation, and the Crown Prince’s support for using violent measures to silence dissidents abroad, including Khashoggi,” the report said.

The journalist was seen entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on October 2, 2018, he was reportedly seeking documents he needed to marry his Turkish girlfriend. A group of MBS-linked activists killed him there, mutilated his body with his body missing to date.

Riyadh initially published conflicting reports about his disappearance, but eventually admitted that Khashoggi had been killed in what it called the an extradition operation.

The Saudi government has denied the new US report, with the foreign ministry saying the perpetrators have been arrested.

Khashoggi, 59, was a Saudi journalist who lived in self-imposed exile in the United States.