'Saudi Crown Prince MBS responsible for Khashoggi's murder', US Senate passes resolution

WASHINGTON – In what amounted to a big jolt to the regime in Saudi Arabia and President Donald Trump, the US Senate on Thursday approved a resolution slamming Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman for the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

The resolution, which states that the Senate believes the crown prince is responsible for the murder, will ramp up pressure on Trump. The president had refused to condemn the Saudi prince and rejected United States intelligence agencies’ conclusions that MBS directed the brutal killing.

Republican Senator Bob Corker of Tennessee presented the resolution in the Senate, showing significant development within Congress toward Saudi Arabia. It also “calls for the government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to ensure appropriate accountability for all those responsible for Jamal Khashoggi's murder."

CIA finds Saudi Crown Prince MBS to be behind Khashoggi's killing: reports

If the Corker resolution also gets a go-ahead from the House of Representative, it will land on Trump's table forcing him to make a choice: Sign it and side with Congress or veto it.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Kentucky Republican, had urged support for the resolution, stating, “does a good job capturing bipartisan concerns about both the war in Yemen, and the behavior of our Saudi partners."

On October 2, Khashoggi had gone to the consulate to collect documents necessary to marry his Turkish fiancee when he was killed. The murder has sparked outrage among Riyadh’s Western allies and Turkey as well.

Saudi Arabia finally confirms killing of Jamal Khashoggi inside consulate

"You have to be willfully blind not to come to the conclusion that this was orchestrated and organized by people under the command of MBS and that he was intrinsically involved in the demise of Mr. Khashoggi," CNN quoted Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina as saying.

Just prior to approving the resolution about Khashoggi’s murder, the Senate also overwhelmingly passed a resolution by a 56-41 vote calling to end US military assistance for the Saudi-led war in Yemen where thousands of people have become prey of the conflict.

The move aimed both at ending that war and slamming the Trump administration's handling of relations with the kingdom.

Seven Republican senators joined Democrats to pass the resolution: Mr. Lee, Susan Collins of Maine, Steve Daines of Montana, Jeff Flake of Arizona, Jerry Moran of Kansas, Rand Paul of Kentucky and Todd Young of Indiana, showing the Senate frustration.

Senators Mike Lee, R-Utah, and Bernie Sanders, I-Vermont, who moved the resolution, invoked the War Powers Act to attempt to end the US involvement in the Yemen war.

The act was invoked for the first time in the 45 years as it a 1973 law by which Congress sought at the end of the Vietnam War to reassert its constitutional role in deciding when the United States would go to war.