A murder, and business as usual Updated: Updated: March 01, 2021 01:58 IST The CIA report on Khashoggi will not lead to a major reversal or even re-evaluation of U.S.-Saudi ties Share Article AAA In this file photo taken on October 10, 2018, a demonstrator dressed as Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman with blood on his hands protests outside the Saudi Embassy in Washington, DC, demanding justice for Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi. | Photo Credit: AFP The CIA report on Khashoggi will not lead to a major reversal or even re-evaluation of U.S.-Saudi ties The case of the “smoking saw”, to use U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham’s phrase, is solved. The declassified version of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) report on journalist Jamal Khashoggi’s murder states in no uncertain terms “that Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman approved [the] operation…to capture or kill Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi”. It bases this conclusion on the evidence that the persons responsible for the crime were members of the security detail of the Crown Prince, who is popularly known as MBS, and reported to his close advisers. It argues that an operation of this nature could not have been conducted without his approval. Although the declassified version does not provide the gory details of the heinous act, it is common knowledge, thanks to revelations made by Turkish intelligence, that Khashoggi’s body was dismembered with an electric saw before its final disposal.