Saudi Arabia's crown prince is likely to have approved an operation to kill or capture a US-based journalist inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, according to a newly-declassified intelligence report.
Jamal Khashoggi, an exiled journalist who was a frequent critic of the crown prince, was murdered in October 2018.
The report, contributed to mostly by the CIA, said: "We assess that Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman approved an operation in Istanbul, Turkey to capture or kill Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
"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 Mohammed 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 added.
The report said the crown prince's "absolute control" of the kingdom's intelligence organisations would make it highly unlikely that such an operation could have been carried out without his authorisation.
The Saudi foreign ministry rejected the accusation, calling the report's assessment "negative, false and unacceptable" and its conclusion "unjustified and inaccurate".
A statement called the murder "an abhorrent crime and a flagrant violation of the kingdom's laws and values".
