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Washington:
US President Donald Trump boasted that he saved Saudi Arabia’s crown prince from larger scrutiny over the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, based on an explosive new guide.
In considered one of 18 interviews with legendary investigative reporter Bob Woodward, Trump defended Mohammed bin Salman over the grotesque homicide inside a Saudi consulate of Khashoggi, a US-based critic of the crown prince’s rule.
“I saved his ass,” Trump instructed Woodward for his forthcoming guide “Rage,” based on an excerpt printed Thursday by Business Insider.
“I was able to get Congress to leave him alone. I was able to get them to stop,” Trump mentioned.
In an echo of the notorious 2018 summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin during which the US chief appeared to simply accept his denials of election meddling, Trump famous that Prince Mohammed denied involvement.
“He will always say that he didn’t do it,” Trump was quoted as telling Woodward.
“He says that to everybody, and frankly I’m happy that he says that. But he will say that to you, he will say that to Congress, and he will say that to everybody. He’s never said he did it.”
Khashoggi’s killing triggered an uproar amongst US lawmakers however the Trump administration has stood by Saudi Arabia, together with controversially bypassing Congress for an $eight billion arms deal.
As he has mentioned publicly, Trump defended his stance by pointing to the foremost oil producer’s purchases of US items, together with weapons.
“He says very strongly that he didn’t do it,” Trump was quoted as telling Woodward. “Bob, they spent $400 billion over a fairly short period of time.”
Khashoggi — who wrote opinion items for The Washington Post, Woodward’s newspaper — was lured into the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in October 2018 to deal with marriage paperwork.
Within minutes, the onetime royal insider turned critic was strangled to loss of life together with his physique then dismembered, based on Turkish and US officers.
A Saudi courtroom on Monday handed jail phrases of between seven to 20 years to eight unnamed defendants and overturned 5 loss of life sentences, in a last ruling condemned by Khashoggi’s fiancee and a UN rights knowledgeable.
(This story has not been edited by NDTV workers and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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