Saudi Arabia’s foreign ministry officially dismissed what it called the “negative, false and unacceptable assessment in the report pertaining to the kingdom’s leadership”.

The ministry added that those responsible for the “heinous murder” had been tried in Saudi courts and that “justice was served.”

Kingdom has firmly denied any involvement by the crown prince, also known as MbS.

Political commentators and activists took to the social media to defend the crown prince, King Salman’s son.

#كلنا_محمد_بن_سلمان#AllOfUsMBS
Yes this is USA the country of freedom and humanity!?
Take care about the US people not the Saudis!?pic.twitter.com/HQ6c3OScoE

— ليثبكت يونقي|المنشن خربان (@RAHAFYOONGI) February 27, 2021

#ALL_OF_US_MBS#AllOfUsMBS
Neither the US government nor the entire world can ever understand how strong is the relationship between the crown prince and his people we support him defend him from all our heart.he’s our present our future and our destiny #الاستخبارات_الأمريكية ?? pic.twitter.com/wtgTBVVKgF

— (@Garam_3) February 27, 2021

We stand in support of #SaudiArabia and #MBS. We wish him all the best for his #Vision2030. We firmly believe that his caravan will move forward with success and stability, and no slander and false accusation can ever stop him!#كلنا_محمد_بن_سلمان#AllOfUsMBS pic.twitter.com/yj8Rq4tQl9

— Zahack Tanvir ? (@zahacktanvir) February 27, 2021

Ali Shihabi, former head of the Arabia Foundation in Washington said, there was nothing in the report that had not been said before and “absolutely no smoking gun.”

“Extraordinary that all this hype is made about this document… This thin ‘report’ is actually evidence that no hard proof exists against MBS,” Shihabi tweeted.

Abdulrahman al-Rashed, a Saudi columnist said “… and it is stated in the report: It is not certain that the accused team was on a journey to get rid of Khashoggi.”

He too said there was “no smoking gun.”

Saudi Arabia’s semi-official newspaper published, “The nation is fortified”, on the front page of its weekend edition, with a large picture of the crown prince smiling.

“The Biden administration will soon realize that the complex issues of the region will not find a solution, except through a new and exceptional agreement with its partners in the region that includes holding Tehran accountable,” Okaz said.

Khashoggi was murdered on October 2, 2018 in a rogue operation in Istanbul when he entered Saudi Consulate for a formal paper-work.

The left groups implicated that Saudi crown prince was personally involved in the murder. However, Khashoggi’s son Salah Khashoggi tweeted on September 20, 2019 that enemies of Saudi Arabia in the east and west are exploiting his father’s death in order to undermine Saudi Arabia and its leadership.

When the Saudi Minister of Foreign Affairs Adel al-Jubeir announced that the kingdom was holding to account those responsible for Jamal Khashoggi’s death, the US State Department announced that the first charges made in the Saudi investigation were a “good first step” in the “right way.”

Also, the State Department on Saturday said the United States government has not made a final conclusion on who was involved in the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

“Recent reports indicating that the US government has made a final conclusion are inaccurate,” State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said in a statement.

And US President Donald Trump said Saturday, that United States will make final conclusions by early next week over the killing of Jamal Khashoggi.

“The Saudi point of view was very clear that its legal system would take care of the prosecution and punishment of Khashoggi’s killers,” Dr. Theodore Karasik, a senior advisor to the Gulf State Analytics in Washington told Al Arabiya English, emphasizing that the US Treasury’s sanctions against key individuals related to the Khashoggi case had been seen as a necessary and positive development to move this issue forward and stop both, the speculation and to stop what he described as “the info war.”

Karasik noted that the US decision was taken according to the Magnitsky Act, to address human rights abuses on a global scale. “Clearly, the treasury’s actions are a forward step in healing some of the political damage as a result of the Khashoggi’s case,” he reiterated.

Political Game

Would the international community be satisfied by Saudi Arabia’s action? American Media Institute CEO Richard Miniter had his doubts, “I am delighted that the killers will face justice and I doubt that even the terrible swift swords of the executioners will be dramatic enough to satisfy the American and European critics of the Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman,” Miniter told Al Arabiya English.

Riyadh was not the only party that accused the Qatari media of launching, and exploiting the case of Khashoggi, and continuing to run an organized campaign against Saudi Arabia, Hudson Institute Senior Follow Lee Smith had the same views.

The Saudi “first step” was positively received by several Washingtonian political circles that were saying, from the beginning of the case, it was politicized by several regional players including the previous US administrations, “Former Obama aides and other echo chamber associates went into action. To punish Saudi, they named specific policies. In particular, they argued that the administration should withdraw support for Riyadh’s war against the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen,” Smith wrote in an op-ed published by the Tablet Magazine last month.

The Gulf State Analytics senior advisor noted that those who wished to continue using Khashoggi’s affair, would resume their attacks against Saudi Arabia as a whole and the Crown Prince in particular. Jubeir’s reassurances that the Saudi government was committed to hold those involved in Khashoggi’s death accountable for their actions, sent a clear message, Karasik said, adding: “The decision said that the Saudi legal system was trying to transform and mature under the 2030 Vision. All aspects of society are in transformation, sometimes it would be good and sometimes it would be bad. The kingdom’s forward progress and the lessons that had been learned were the most important points in this case.”

On Friday night, the Washington Post published new accusations against the Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, stating that a CIA anonymous source claimed that the Crown Prince had ordered the killing of Khashoggi, based on intercepted phone calls.

Saudi Ambassador to the US Prince Khalid bin Salman who denied these allegations described the Washington Post’s claim as “a serious accusation that should not be left to anonymous sources.”

Karasik commented on this statement by saying: “Now in the wake of the CIA findings, the Saudi Ambassador immediately made it clear that there was another version of events by taking the WP to task for such sharp accusations by relying on anonymous sources.”

“Anonymous sources are the fool’s gold of journalism. No one believes that unnamed sources of reporters any more–even when those sources are real,” American Media Institute CEO Richard Minister told Al Arabiya English.

As soon as the allegations were published, a debate had resurfaced in Washington, questioning the legality of leaking classified information and its effect on the US national security.

This came as prominent DC attorney Mark S. Zaid stressed, in a tweet, that in all cases, leaking “classified information is a very serious issue.

“Khashoggi’s killers must be brought to justice and hopefully truth publicly disclosed but I have serious issues with classified leaks of signals intercepts, especially if by senior officials,” that could lead “to jail” according to him.

Article first published on Al Arabiya English.

Dalia Aqidi is a news analyst and TV anchor based in the United States and a contributor to Al Arabiya English. Her twitter handle is @Dalia30