US failure to sanction Saudi crown prince for Khashoggi killing dangerous: UN expert

A UN human rights investigator said on Monday that it was "extremely dangerous" for the United States to have named Saudi Arabia's de facto ruler as having approved an operation to capture or kill journalist Jamal Khashoggi but not to have taken action against him.

Agnes Callamard, special rapporteur on summary executions who led a UN investigation into Khashoggi's 2018 murder, reiterated her call for sanctions targeting Mohammed bin Salman's assets and his international engagements.

He approved an operation to capture or kill Khashoggi, according to US intelligence released on Friday as the United States imposed sanctions on some of those involved but spared the crown prince himself in an effort to preserve relations with the kingdom.

Callamard told a Geneva news conference that what had been declassified "appears to be very little indeed and that's disappointing" and she would have expected more material evidence to have been released.

"It is extremely problematic, in my view, if not dangerous, to acknowledge someone's culpability and then to tell that someone 'but we won't do anything, please proceed as if have we have said nothing'," she said. "That to me is an extremely dangerous move on the part of the USA."

US President Joe Biden on Saturday said his administration would make an announcement on Saudi Arabia on Monday, but a White House official suggested no significant new steps were expected.

"There are many things that the US government can do. The one thing it cannot do - it cannot do - is to be silent and take no action on their findings," Callamard said.