Saudi operatives, who Killed Khashoggi, received paramilitary training in United States

The US New York Times newspaper revealed on Tuesday that four members of the Saudi commando unit that took part in the killing of the Saudi opposition journalist Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul in 2018 had received paramilitary training in the United States.

The training was provided by the Arkansas-based security company Tier 1 Group, which is owned by the private equity firm Cerberus Capital Management. The company claimed that the training — including “safe marksmanship” and “countering an attack” — was “defensive in nature and devised to better protect Saudi leaders. One person familiar with the training said it also included work in surveillance and close-quarters battle.

The training, approved by the State Department, underscores the perils of military partnerships with repressive governments, according to the newspaper.

 More details are available in this link:

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/22/us/politics/khashoggi-saudi-kill-team-us-training.html

Hamda Mustafa