King Salman orders reshuffle of Saudi General Intelligence

King Salman has established a committee, led by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, that will be responsible for the overhaul of Saudi Arabia’s General Intelligence, according to the official Saudi Press Agency.  

Members of the committee will include:

A royal decree on Friday relieved General Ahmad Asiri from his post as Deputy Chief of General Intelligence. Royal Court Advisor Saud Al-Qahtani has also been removed from his role.

In addition to Qahtani and Assiri, other military officers have been fired, according to the SPA Twitter account. They include Major General Mohammed bin Saleh al-Rumaih, assistant head of the General Intelligence Directorate; Major General Abdullah bin Khalifa al-Shaya, head of General Intelligence for Human Resources; and General Rashad bin Hamed al-Mohammad, director of the General Directorate of Security and Protection.

The series of royal decrees issued late Friday evening in Riyadh came after the Kingdom’s Public Prosecutor declared Saudi citizen and Washington Post Columnist Jamal Khashoggi as dead. The prosecutor announced that investigations are still ongoing with 18 persons involved, all of whom are Saudi citizens.

“Preliminary investigations carried out by the Public Prosecution Office into the disappearance of Saudi citizen Jamal bin Ahmad Khashoggi revealed that the discussions that took place between him and the persons who met him during his presence at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul led to a brawl and a fist fight with the citizen, Jamal Khashoggi, which led to his death, may his soul Rest In Peace,” according to an official statement from the Kingdom’s Center for International Communication.

Khashoggi’s case drew attention “at the highest levels” of the Saudi government, and the Kingdom began investigating by dispatching a security team to Turkey on Oct. 6 to cooperate with Turkish counterparts.

This was followed by the formation of a joint Saudi-Turkish security team, with permission given to Turkish security authorities to enter the Saudi consulate in Istanbul and the residence of the Consul, sais a separate CIC statement, citing an official source.

“While the investigations are still ongoing into the case with the 18 Saudi detainees, the Kingdom expresses its deep regret at the painful developments that have taken place and stresses the commitment of the authorities in the Kingdom to bring the facts to the public opinion, to hold all those involved accountable and bring them to justice by referring them to the competent courts in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia,” the statement concluded.