Norman Roule, a former top intelligence official, says an attempted rendition or interrogation of journalist Jamal Khashoggi – and not a state-sanctioned murder – fits the pattern of previous Saudi operations, CBS News is reporting.
"It's not unreasonable to think that Saudi leadership up to the crown prince were probably aware of a rendition or at least an interrogation," Roule said. "But the idea (that) a murder was approved by the crown prince of Saudi Arabia – I've seen no evidence for this.”
Roule made his comments on the network’s “Intelligence Matters” podcast.
Roule, who retired last year after a career in the CIA and Office of the Director of National Intelligence, has just returned from Saudi Arabia where he had attended a previously scheduled conference.
“I spoke with a few dozen people who spent 15 to 20 years in the United States,” he said. “And their comment uniformly was, "This is not who we are. This is not who I am." And there is a bit of pain that the entire country of Saudi Arabia is being painted with this action.
“And they all realize that if the investigation leads to any evidence that something took place, which appears to be very likely, that steps must be taken to punish those involved and to insure that this doesn't happen again.”
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan maintained the killing of Khashoggi at Saudi Arabia’s consulate in Istanbul was "premeditated."
“We have strong indications that this murder wasn’t the result of a sudden incident, but rather, was the product of a planned operation,” Erdogan said.
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