Jamal Khashoggi murder: US State Department bans 16 Saudi nationals from entering country over journalist's death

The list includes an adviser and former aide to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman

The Department of State publicly released the names of 16 people it believes to be involved in the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in the Saudi Arabian Consulate in Istanbul in October 2018, subsequently banning those individuals and their immediate family members from entering the United States.

“In cases where the Secretary of State has credible information that officials of foreign governments have been involved in significant corruption or gross violations of human rights,” the State Department said in a statement released on Monday, “those individuals and their immediate family members are ineligible for entry into the United States.”

Mr Khashoggi was a permanent US resident who has gained prominence for his criticism of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. The Washington Post columnist was murdered and dismembered on October 2 last year in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.

The state department’s designations come on the heels of the kingdom’s detention of at least 10 people known for its association with the Saudi Arabia’s women’s rights activism. The department confirmed that two among the ten arrested are American citizens.

As for the sixteen people banned from the US, at least two are known for its close relationship with the crown prince. Among those banned include Saud al-Qahtani, an adviser to the crown prince, and Maher Mutreb, a member of the 33-year-old leader’s travel entourage.

The CIA believes al-Qahtani organised the assassination of Mr Khashoggi.

Last November, the State Department designated al-Qahtani and 16 other individuals under the Global Magnitsky Act. Everyone on that list with the exception of one person were named in Monday’s designation.

In October 2018, the US also revoked the visas of 21 unidentified Saudi nationals associated with Mr Khashoggi’s murder.