After acknowledging responsibility for the killing of Khashoggi .. Americans ask questions to bin Salman

Mohamed Minshawi - Washington

The admission of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman of his political responsibility for the killing of Jamal Khashoggi in a documentary aired by the American television station PBS; a large number of comments in the United States by politicians and activists.

Martin Indyk, a former ambassador and expert at the Council on Foreign Relations, said the Saudi crown prince had to say three simple, straightforward words: "I take responsibility."

Indyk made the remarks at a symposium in the presence of Saudi Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Adel al-Jubeir days after Mohammed bin Salman admitted his political responsibility for the killing of Khashoggi. Saudi security, and we have put in place mechanisms to prevent such a crime in the future. "

Why don't you apologize?
"If Mohammed bin Salman accepts responsibility for this crime as an act of people belonging to the Saudi government, why would he reject the UN report that came to the same conclusion?" Said Tamara Wits, a former State Department official and researcher at the Brookings Institution.

"Since you took responsibility, why don't you publicly apologize to the Khashoggi family for killing Jamal? Apologize to the Turkish government for violating diplomatic immunity within its territory? And apologizing to the United States for killing one of its legitimate residents?"

"As you take responsibility, how do you see the actions of government officials to monitor, threaten and target Saudi citizens who criticize the government?"

No repetition
Finally, the question to Tamara: "What will you do to show the world that you have learned the lesson? And what has changed in policies, people and practices to ensure that this crime will not be repeated?

A UN report found that the Saudi authorities' continued crackdowns and arrests of activists, writers, academics and religious leaders were a failure of Saudi Arabia's commitment not to repeat its crimes.

Sara Lee Watson, Middle East program director at Human Rights Watch, said in a tweet that "the release of detainees is evidence of a change in Saudi policies."

Senator Chris Murphy of Connecticut wrote, "Some of our allies from the countries we deal with on a daily basis are lying to us. Doesn't this raise doubts about Saudi Arabia's credibility and its desire to become a loyal partner to the United States?"

As for the question posed several times about the whereabouts of Khashoggi's body, and the Saudi responses to it have changed several times. She probably gave it to a Turkish contractor and asked him to get rid of her without knowing what happened to the body. "

Change the environment
A Washington-based Saudi activist, who asked not to be named, asks what the crown prince has done to change the general climate that allowed the killing of Khashoggi.

"The policies and attitudes of Mohammed bin Salman towards dissidents, activists and dissenters led to the killing of 15 men belonging to the Saudi regime to kill Jamal Khashoggi," the activist told Al Jazeera Net.

The activist also asked questions regarding the nature of future procedures that would not allow a repeat of what happened, and will prisons be free of prisoners of conscience?

Some US media are also constantly questioning the whereabouts of Saud al-Qahtani, a close adviser to the crown prince, who is widely believed to have overseen and managed the killing of Jamal Khashoggi. Letters sent by the Saudi Crown Prince in the hours before and after the operation.