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Senin, 23 Desember 2019

Saudi Arabia says five sentenced to death in killing of Jamal Khashoggi - The Washington Post

On Oct. 2, 2018, Saudi agents killed Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi inside the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul. What has been done to hold those responsible accountable?

ISTANBUL — Saudi Arabia’s public prosecutor announced Monday that five people have been sentenced to death in connection with the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul last year. But the two most senior officials implicated in the case were cleared of wrongdoing because of “insufficient evidence,” the prosecutor said.

The slaying of Khashoggi in October 2018 sparked a global outcry against Saudi Arabia and led to greater scrutiny of a crackdown on dissent pursued by Mohammed bin Salman, the kingdom’s young crown prince. Khashoggi, who contributed columns to The Washington Post, had been one of Mohammed’s most prominent critics.

Khashoggi was killed soon after he visited the Saudi Consulate to obtain documents that would allow him to remarry. After he was killed, by a team of agents who had flown to Istanbul from Saudi Arabia, Khashoggi’s body was dismembered, according to Turkish and Saudi prosecutors. His remains have not been found.

[7 unanswered questions a year after Jamal Khashoggi’s killing]

The verdicts came after a trial in Riyadh’s criminal court that lasted nearly a year and was largely shrouded in secrecy, with court sessions closed to the general public. Human rights groups warned that the lack of transparency made the proceedings unfair, and increased the likelihood that senior officials could escape justice.

Diplomats from the United States, Turkey and several other countries were allowed to attend but told not to reveal details of the trial. Members of Khashoggi’s family also attended, according to Shalaan al-Shalaan, a spokesman for the Saudi public prosecutor.

In addition to the five people who received the death penalty, three more people were sentenced to jail terms totaling 24 years, according to Shalaan, who did not name any of the convicted defendants.

The CIA concluded last year that the crown prince had ordered Khashoggi’ s assassination, contradicting Saudi Arabia’s insistence that Mohammed had no knowledge of the plot. However, Saudi authorities had said they were investigating the roles played by two senior aides to the crown prince in organizing and dispatching the team of agents who killed Khashoggi.

Shalaan said Monday that the two senior aides — Saud al-Qahtani and Ahmed al-Assiri — were exonerated.

Qahtani, a media adviser to the crown prince and one of the kingdom’s most strident defenders, was “investigated by the public prosecutor and was not charged because of lack of evidence against him,” Shalaan said.

Assiri, Saudi Arabia’s former deputy head of intelligence, was initially charged after prosecutors said he was responsible for issuing the order for Khashoggi’s forcible return to Saudi Arabia. Shalaan said Monday that Assiri’s guilt “was not proved.”

Turkish officials insisted that Khashoggi’s killing was planned, even as Saudi Arabia maintained that the murder was a “rogue” operation carried out by overzealous agents who had been instructed to return Khashoggi to Saudi Arabia alive. On Monday, Shalaan said the investigation showed “there was no prior intention to kill at the start of this mission.”

Dadouch reported from Beirut.

7 unanswered questions a year after Jamal Khashoggi’s killing

Saudi Arabia fires 5 top officials, arrests 18 Saudis, saying Khashoggi was killed in fight at consulate

Today’s coverage from Post correspondents around the world

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2019-12-23 11:46:00Z
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Saudi Arabia sentences five to death over Jamal Khashoggi murder - CNN

Khashoggi, a Saudi journalist and a Washington Post columnist, was critical of Saudi Arabia and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's policies. He was allegedly killed and dismembered on October 2, 2018, in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul by men with close ties to the highest levels of the Saudi government and bin Salman.

In a press conference reported by state media Monday, the prosecutor also said former royal court adviser Saud al-Qahtani was investigated but "no evidence" was found against him.

Ten defendants were release due to insufficient evidence, the prosecutor added.

More to follow...

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2019-12-23 10:52:00Z
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Saudi Arabia sentences five to death over Jamal Khashoggi murder - CNN

In a press conference reported by state media Monday, the prosecutor also said former royal court adviser Saud al-Qahtani was investigated but "no evidence" was found against him.

Ten defendants were release due to insufficient evidence, the prosecutor added.

More to follow...

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John Bolton criticizes Trump’s approach to North Korea amid heightened tension - Fox News

John Bolton, President Trump’s former national security adviser, criticized his old boss over the administration's misguided "rhetorical policy" toward North Korea along with its failure to exert "maximum pressure" during the high-stakes nuclear talks.

Bolton’s comments, which were published late Sunday on Axios, come at a precarious time between Trump and North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un. What once showed glimpses of an unlikely and historic foreign policy victory for Trump, now appears to be teetering on the brink of collapse.

Bolton said he doesn't believe the administration "really means it" when they talk about stopping North Korea's nuclear ambition. He said if they did they would "pursue a different course."

JAMES CARAFANO: NORTH KOREA-US HAVE CHANCE TO BREAK LOG JAM

U.S. officials on Sunday were on high alert due to a possible North Korean missile launch that has been menacingly referred to by Pyongyang as a "Christmas gift." Bolton said in the interview that if Kim makes good on the threat and launches a missile the White House should do something "that would be very unusual" and admit that they were wrong.

Bolton said-- in the event of a missile launch-- he hopes the White House can admit to the failure and then works with allies to "demonstrate we will not accept it." Bolton is seen as a hardliner towards North Korea and has said in the past that as it stands Kim "will never give up the nuclear weapons voluntarily."

Trump fired Bolton in September amid policy disagreements over North Korea and other issues. Trump said at the time that Bolton's view set the United States back "very badly" in talks with the North and added that "maybe a new method would be very good."

The relationship between Trump and Kim has been rocky at best and despite high-profile meetings and positive descriptions from Trump about their relationship, experts have raised concerns about Pyongyang becoming more of a threat.

Anthony Wier, a former State Department official who tracks nuclear disarmament for the Friends Committee on National Legislation, said Pyongyang has “been building new capabilities.”

"As long as that continues, they gain new capabilities to try new missiles to threaten us and our allies in new ways," he said.

Defense Secretary Mark Esper told reporters earlier this week that the U.S. has heard all the talk of a possible upcoming test around Christmas.

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"I've been watching the Korean Peninsula for a quarter-century now. I'm familiar with their tactics, with their bluster," he said. "We need to get serious and sit down and have discussions about a political agreement that denuclearizes the peninsula. That is the best way forward and arguably the only way forward if we're going to do something constructive."

Fox News' Bradford Betz contributed to this report

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2019-12-23 08:10:25Z
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Minggu, 22 Desember 2019

As wildfires rage, Australian PM apologizes for family vacation and defends climate policies - NBCNews.com

SYDNEY — Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison apologized Sunday for taking a family vacation in Hawaii as deadly bushfires raged across several states, destroying homes and claiming the lives of two volunteer firefighters.

Morrison cut short a vacation with his wife and adult children amid public anger at his absence during a national crisis, and arrived home Saturday night. He spoke to reporters Sunday morning while visiting the headquarters of the Rural Fire Service in Sydney.

"If you had your time over again and you had the benefit of hindsight, we would have made different decisions," Morrison said.

“I am sure Australians are fair-minded and understand that when you make a promise to your kids you try and keep it.”

"But as prime minister, you have other responsibilities, and I accept that and I accept the criticism," he added.

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Morrison said this was not a time for political point-scoring, but a "time to be kind to each other."

He said that while he is not a trained firefighter, “I'm comforted by the fact that Australians would like me to be here just simply so I can be here, alongside them, as they are going through this terrible time.”

Morrison also answered critics who say his government has not done enough to fight climate change, which has been cited as a major factor in the spate of fires burning across the states of New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia.

He said there were also "many other factors" responsible for the unprecedented number of fires during a record-breaking heat wave.

"There is no argument ... about the links between broader issues of global climate change and weather events around the world," he said. "But I'm sure people equally would acknowledge that the direct connection to any single fire event — it's not a credible suggestion to make that link."

Rural Fire Service Commissioner Shane Fizsimmons described Saturday as an "awful day" for firefighters as strong southerly winds fanned more than 100 fires in New South Wales alone.

The annual Australian fire season, which peaks during the Southern Hemisphere summer, started early after an unusually warm and dry winter. Around 3 million hectares (7.4 million acres) of land has burned nationwide during a torrid past few months, with nine people killed and more than 800 homes destroyed.

Thirty firefighters from Canada and nine from the United States were among fresh crews set to join the battle against the fires on Sunday.

The devastation has reignited debate on whether Morrison’s conservative government has taken enough action on climate change.

Australia is the world’s largest exporter of coal and liquefied natural gas.

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2019-12-22 15:56:00Z
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Newly released emails provide details in White House pause of Ukraine aid - NBC News

Newly released emails regarding Ukraine defense aid held by the White House show that a request to withhold funds came less than two hours after President Donald Trump's July phone call with the Ukrainian president that has served as the backbone of the impeachment proceedings against him.

The Center for Public Integrity obtained 146 pages of heavily redacted emails through a Freedom of Information Act request and court order.

The nonprofit released the emails late on Friday, revealing a discussion between the White House's Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and the Pentagon over the defense aid owed to Ukraine just hours after Trump spoke to President Volodymyr Zelenskiy.

"Based on guidance I have received and in light of the Administration's plan to review assistance to Ukraine, including the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative, please hold off on any additional [Department of Defense] obligations of these funds, pending direction from that process," Mike Duffey, a political appointee serving as associate director for national security programs at the OMB wrote on July 25 to OMB and Pentagon officials.

Government officials raised concern over the much-discussed phone conversation as it appeared that Trump improperly asked Zelenskiy to investigate Hunter Biden, the son of former Vice President Joe Biden — one of Trump's chief political rivals in the 2020 election.

The administration put a hold on critical defense aid for Ukraine as early as the week of July 18, one week before the phone call between Trump and Zelenskiy, at the direction of acting White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney, two administration officials and a senior Democratic aide briefed by the State Dept. told NBC News in September.

The funds were eventually released on Sept. 11.

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In a statement to NBC News early Sunday the OMB sought to play down the significance of the new emails.

“It’s reckless to tie the hold of funds to the phone call," said spokeswoman Rachel Semmel.

"As has been established and publicly reported, the hold was announced in an interagency meeting on July 18. To pull a line out of one email and fail to address the context is misleading and inaccurate.”

The Pentagon did not immediately respond to a request for comment by NBC News.

Dec. 21, 201902:11

It appeared that those involved felt the hold could be problematic, considering Duffey wrote to officials in his office and at the Pentagon to keep it all close their chest.

"Given the sensitive nature of the request," Duffey wrote on the afternoon of Trump's call with Zelenskiy, "I appreciate your keeping that information closely held to those who need to know to execute direction."

The emails also provide insight into administration officials' feelings once the funds are finally released, though their reasoning for distributing the aid suddenly appears to be redacted.

Elaine McCuskker, the Pentagon's comptroller, said there was "increasing risk of execution" in continuing to hold the funds.

Three House committees announced that they would launch a wide-ranging investigation into the allegations against Trump two days prior to the release.

On Sept. 11, Duffey shared his feelings of relief to McCusker a few hours after alerting her that he would be releasing all of the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative funds.

"Glad to have this behind us," he said.

Duffey is one of the officials at OMB who has steadfastly refused to comply with House subpoenas for deposition in the impeachment inquiry, along with his boss, Russ Vought, OMB’s Acting Director. However, another OMB official, Mark Sandy, did appear for a deposition after being subpoenaed.

The House voted to impeach Trump on Wednesday. He is only the third president in U.S. history to be impeached.

A trial in the Republican-controlled Senate to decide whether Trump will remain in office is expected to begin January, but Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said Thursday that he has reached an “impasse” with Democratic leaders over moving forward with the rules governing the trial.

It is likely Trump will be acquitted, as it would require a two-thirds majority for a conviction.

Winston Wilde

Phil McCausland

Phil McCausland is an NBC News reporter focused on the rural-urban divide.

Hans Nichols contributed.

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2019-12-22 10:20:00Z
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Officials Discussed Hold on Ukraine Aid After Trump Spoke With Country’s Leader - The New York Times

WASHINGTON — About 90 minutes after President Trump held a controversial telephone call with President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine in July, the White House budget office ordered the Pentagon to suspend all military aid that Congress had allocated to Ukraine, according to emails released by the Pentagon late Friday.

A budget official, Michael Duffey, also told the Pentagon to keep quiet about the aid freeze because of the “sensitive nature of the request,” according to a message dated July 25.

An earlier email that Mr. Duffey sent to the Pentagon comptroller suggested that Mr. Trump began asking aides about $250 million in military aid set aside for Ukraine after noticing a June 19 article about it in the Washington Examiner.

The emails add to publicly available information about the events that prompted the Democratic-led House to call for Mr. Trump to be removed from office. On Wednesday, Mr. Trump was impeached for abuse of power and obstruction of Congress along a party-line vote after documents and testimony by senior administration officials revealed that he had withheld $391 million in aid to Ukraine at the same time that he asked for investigations from the Ukrainian president that would benefit him politically.

The emails were in a batch of 146 pages of documents released by the Trump administration late Friday to the Center for Public Integrity, a nonprofit news organization and watchdog group, in response to a Freedom of Information Act request.

Despite the timing of Mr. Duffey’s email, officials testified before Congress that the hold on the aid was announced at a meeting on July 18 involving a range of administration officials, including some from the Office of Management and Budget. Mick Mulvaney, the acting White House chief of staff and director of the budget office, was said to have told people that the president had directed the aid to be frozen. Other officials have testified they knew by early July of the hold.

Rachel Semmel, a spokeswoman for the budget office, said, “It’s reckless to tie the hold of funds to the phone call,” noting the mid-July announcement of the hold at an interagency meeting.

Senator Chuck Schumer, Democrat of New York and the minority leader, has pressed for Mr. Duffey, a political appointee who is associate director of national security programs at the Office of Management and Budget, to testify in a Senate trial. On Twitter on Saturday, he pointed to the July 25 email as “all the more reason” Mr. Duffey and others must appear. Republican Senate leaders have indicated they do not plan to call witnesses.

The email raises further questions about the process by which Mr. Trump imposed the hold on the military aid, and the link between the hold and the requests he made of Mr. Zelensky in the telephone call, which prompted concern among national security officials with knowledge of the conversation.

In the call, after Mr. Zelensky mentioned Ukraine was ready to buy anti-tank missiles to use in a war against a Russian-backed insurgency, Mr. Trump said, “I would like you to do us a favor though,” according to a reconstructed transcript released by the White House. He then pressed Mr. Zelensky to open an investigation based on a conspiracy theory that Ukraine had interfered in the 2016 United States elections and one based on unsubstantiated claims of corrupt acts by former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr., the Democratic presidential candidate.

That call took place from 9:03 a.m. to 9:33 a.m. At 11:04 a.m., Mr. Duffey emailed Defense Department officials telling them of the aid, “Please hold off on any additional DoD obligations of these funds, pending direction from that process.” Obligation refers to the process of a government agency designating how funds will be spent.

In addition, he wrote, “Given the sensitive nature of the request, I appreciate your keeping that information closely held to those who need to know to execute the direction.”

A senior administration official, speaking on the condition of anonymity to publicly discuss the matter, said the timing of the email — an hour and a half after Mr. Trump’s July 25 call with Mr. Zelensky — was coincidental.

The official said the email was part of a weekslong exchange over aid to Ukraine. The July 25 email came after the budget office issued a formal, written hold on the aid, the official said. The reference to sensitivity around the discussions, the official said, was based on the potential for concerns about career officials at the agency that had arisen from previous instances when aid had been cut, as well as the fact that the freeze related to national security matters.

The Pentagon did not reply to a request for comment.

In a June 19 email, Mr. Duffey asked Elaine McCusker, the Pentagon comptroller, about the aid in the context of the Washington Examiner article, saying, “The President has asked about this funding release, and I have been tasked to follow-up with someone over there to get more detail.”

According to the private testimony of Mark Sandy, a senior budget official, Mr. Trump began inquiring about the aid on June 19 after seeing a news report. Mr. Sandy said in a closed-door deposition before lawmakers in November that he learned of Mr. Trump’s decision to freeze the aid through a July 12 email from Robert Blair, an aide to Mr. Mulvaney.

A Ukraine expert on the National Security Council, Lt. Col. Alexander S. Vindman, told Congress that he had learned by July 3 that the budget office had delayed the aid. Jennifer Williams, an aide in the vice president’s office, testified that the State Department had informed Colonel Vindman of this.

A congressional aide said the budget office in June had blocked the State Department’s planned notification to Congress that it was proceeding with its $141 million in aid, separate from the Pentagon’s package.

The emails underscore what some officials say was the central role that the Office of Management and Budget played in Mr. Trump’s Ukraine pressure campaign, which he orchestrated with the help of his personal lawyer, Rudolph W. Giuliani.

Democratic leaders in Congress have called for testimonies from Mr. Mulvaney; John R. Bolton, the former national security adviser; and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. None have agreed to testify.

Mr. Bolton is said to have opposed the pressure campaign on Ukraine, while Mr. Pompeo enabled it — he spoke with Mr. Giuliani weeks before he helped Mr. Giuliani and Mr. Trump with the April ouster of the United States ambassador to Ukraine, Marie L. Yovanovitch, who promoted anticorruption efforts.

Mr. Sandy’s private testimony disclosed that some budget officials were disturbed by the aid freeze to Ukraine. Two budget officials resigned this year in part out of frustration at the freeze, he said. One official had been frustrated by not understanding the reason for the hold, Mr. Sandy said, and another had offered a “dissenting opinion” on whether the hold was legal.

Mr. Trump released the aid on Sept. 11, after he learned of the whistle-blower complaint in late August. Mr. Bolton had resigned the previous day, though to what degree that was tied to Ukraine is unclear. Mr. Duffey wrote an email to Ms. McCusker at 9:52 p.m. on Sept. 11 saying he hoped that the signing of the release order would take place that night, and that he was “glad to have this behind us.”

Maggie Haberman contributed reporting from New York.

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2019-12-22 01:58:00Z
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Senin, 23 Desember 2019

Minggu, 22 Desember 2019

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