●沙特阿拉伯王儲穆罕默德。資料圖片【原文】下文摘錄自香港《文匯報》2月28日︰
美國國家情報總監辦公室（Office of the Director of National Intelligence）2月26日發表解密報告，認定沙特阿拉伯（Saudi Arabia）王儲穆罕默德（Mohammed bin Salman）批准殺害沙特籍記者卡舒吉（Jamal Khashoggi），美國國務院同日宣布實施「卡舒吉禁令」（"Khashoggi Ban"），將76名涉案的沙特人列入制裁名單（sanctions list），但穆罕默德卻不在名單內。輿論紛紛質疑拜登（Joe Biden）為免損害與沙特關係，而放生穆罕默德，與前總統特朗普（Donald Trump）任內包庇沙特領導層如出一轍，美國有線新聞網絡（Cable News Network，CNN）更直指拜登未有履行競選時矢言懲罰沙特領導層的承諾。沙特則全面反駁美方的報告，形容為「負面、不實且令人無法接受」，但仍強調希望維持雙方關係。
卡舒吉生前為美國《華盛頓郵報》（Washington Post ）撰寫專欄，經常撰文批評穆罕默德。他在2018年進入沙特駐土耳其（Turkey）伊斯坦布爾（Istanbul）領事館後被殺害，遺體一直無法尋獲，相信遭到肢解。美國情報機關早於2018年底便向國會（Congress）提交此案的報告，但特朗普阻止報告公開，避免損害與沙特的關係。
拜登上任後，批准公開卡舒吉案的調查報告，而在華府公開報告前夕，拜登與沙特國王薩勒曼（Salman）通電話，強調要鞏固兩國關係，但兩國聲明（statement）均未有提及兩人曾討論有關報告。
國家情報總監辦公室的報告列出涉嫌參與殺害卡舒吉的21人名單，包括穆罕默德的一名主要顧問及保安人員直接參與行動，並指出自2017年以來，穆罕默德已絕對掌控沙特的安全和情報（intelligence）組織，沙特官員不會在未經他批准（authorization）的情況下，策劃殺害卡舒吉，而穆罕默德視卡舒吉為國家威脅（threat），支持以暴力手段令他噤聲。
報告亦指出，穆罕默德當時可能已在幕僚之間營造一種氛圍，令他們害怕一旦未能完成獲指派的任務，將遭到開除或逮捕，這亦說明幕僚不可能質疑穆罕默德的命令，又或未經他同意（consent）就展開敏感行動。
美國國務卿（Secretary of State）布林肯（Antony Blinken）2月26日宣布名為「卡舒吉禁令」的新政策，列明若有人代表外國政府，傷害、威脅或監控記者，將不獲准入境美國，華府已將涉及卡舒吉案的76人列入黑名單，禁止他們入境。美國財政部（Treasury Department ）則宣布對沙特情報總局（General Intelligence Presidency）前副局長阿希里（Ahmad Hassan Mohammed al Asiri），以及沙特快速應變部隊（Rapid Intervention Force，RIF）實施制裁，凍結他們的資產，並禁止美國任何人與他們進行商業交易。財政部指出，阿希里是暗殺卡舒吉行動的元兇（ringleader），奉命攔截卡舒吉的暗殺小組多名成員則來自RIF，而RIF隸屬沙特王室衛隊（Saudi Royal Guard），只聽命於王儲。
布林肯被記者問及穆罕默德為何不在制裁名單上時，指拜登不欲兩國關係破裂，而是希望重新「調整」（recalibration）與沙特的關係，以更符合美方利益與價值。沙特外交部（Ministry of Foreign Affairs）批評美方的報告「不實和錯誤」，但希望兩國持續深化戰略夥伴關係（strategic partnership）。
《紐約時報》（The New York Times）報道，白宮（White House）國安團隊曾向拜登表示，若拜登禁止穆罕默德入境或對他提出刑事起訴，勢必破壞（jeopardize）兩國關係，不利美國與沙特合作反恐（counterterrorism）和對抗伊朗（Iran），將令美方付出極大代價。路透社（Reuters）分析亦指出，拜登正小心翼翼維持與沙特的關係，原因在於他尋求與伊朗談判重返核協議（nuclear deal），但仍倚靠沙特制衡伊朗，並合作對抗伊斯蘭極端主義（Islamic extremism），而華府推動更多阿拉伯國家與以色列（Israel）建立外交關係，沙特亦可擔當關鍵角色。
Biden under pressure for tougher sanctions against Saudi crown prince
【譯文】The Office of the U.S. Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) released a newly declassified intelligence report on 26 February assessing that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman approved the killing of the Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi. Meanwhile, the State Department announced the "Khashoggi Ban" on the same day, imposing visa restrictions on 76 Saudi individuals involved in the case, but Mohammed was not on the sanctions list. Public criticisms suspected that Mohammed was not penalized due to the U.S. President Joe Biden's consideration of preventing any damage to the relationship with Saudi Arabia, similar to the former president Donald Trump's decision to shield the top Saudi officials from the liability. The Cable News Network (CNN) even criticized Biden for failing to keep his promise during the election campaigns to punish the Saudi leadership. The kingdom of Saudi Arabia completely rejected the assessment, describing it as "negative, false and unacceptable" and emphasizing that it still hoped to maintain strategic partnership between both countries.
Before his death, Khashoggi wrote a monthly column in the Washington Post in which he often criticized the policies of Mohammed, and was eventually killed during a visit to the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul, Turkey in 2018, with his body missing but believed to have been mutilated. The US intelligence agency submitted a report on the case to Congress as early as the end of 2018, but the Trump administration had resisted releasing the report to avoid harming the relationship with Saudi Arabia.
Biden approved the publication of the investigative report on the Khashoggi case after he took office. Right before the report was released, he had a phone conversation with King Salman of Saudi Arabia, emphasizing the need for close ties between two countries. Yet, the statement issued by both sides did not mention about their discussions on the report.
ODNI's report listed 21 people suspected of participating in the killing of Khashoggi, including one of Mohammed's main advisers and security personnel. It was also said that the Crown Prince had absolute control over the kingdom's security and intelligence organizations, so that the Saudi officials would not have carried out such operation to kill Khashoggi without his authorization, while Mohammed viewed Khashoggi as a threat and supported using violent measures to silence him.
It was also pointed out that the Crown Prince had probably fostered an environment at that time in which the aides were afraid that they would be fired or arrested if they failed to complete assigned tasks. This suggested that they were unlikely to question Mohammed's orders or undertake sensitive actions without his consent.
The U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced a new policy called "Khashoggi Ban" on 26 February, imposing visa restriction on individuals who engaged in harming, threatening or surveilling journalists on behalf of foreign governments, and the 76 people involved in killing Khashoggi had been blacklisted and barred from entering the U.S. Meanwhile, the U.S. Treasury Department rolled out new sanctions against Ahmad Hassan Mohammed al Asiri, Saudi Arabia's former deputy head of the General Intelligence Presidency, and Saudi Arabia's Rapid Intervention Force (RIF), freezing their U.S. assets and generally barring Americans from dealing with them.
The Treasury Department said that al Asiri was the ringleader of the assassination, and several members of the hit squad that murdered Khashoggi came from the RIF, a subset of the Saudi Royal Guard answering only to the Crown Prince.
When asked why Mohammed was not on the sanctions list, Blinken said that Biden did not want to break the core relationship with Saudi Arabia but hoped for a "recalibration" of the relationship with the kingdom in line with the interests and values of the U.S. Saudi Arabia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs criticized the U.S. report as "false and inaccurate", but hoped that both sides could continue to deepen their strategic partnership.
According to The New York Times, the national security team of the White House advised Biden that the decision to ban Mohammed from entering the U.S. or file criminal charges against him would inevitably jeopardize the strategic relationship between both countries, forcing the U.S. to bear a high cost in terms of Saudi cooperation on counterterrorism and in confronting Iran. Reuters also pointed out that Biden had been cautiously maintaining friendly relations with Saudi Arabia as he aimed at re-engaging Iran in the nuclear deal negotiations, but still needed to count on Saudi Arabia as a counterweight against Iran and Islamic extremism, while the kingdom could also play a key role in the Biden administration's desire to help Israel strengthen diplomatic ties with some Arab countries.●龐嘉儀
Q&A
1. 卡舒吉曾於上世紀九十年代效力於沙特哪個組織？
2. 穆罕默德於何時被沙特國王正式任命為新王儲？
3. 美沙關係建立於何時？
4. 沙特以生產什麼聞名？
Answer
1. 沙特情報局
2. 2017年
3. 1933年
4. 石油（petroleum）