US politicians to quiz Egypt's intelligence head on Cairo's 'role' in Khashoggi murder

US Senators are set to quiz Egypt's head of intelligence over accusations his nation was the site where drugs used in the murder of Saudi journalist and activist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018 were supplied.

This is set to occur during Abbas Kamel's trip to the US this week to speak with intelligence officials and lawmakers on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

Multiple Senators will use Kamel's Washington trip to inquire about recent revelations concerning Khashoggi's Istanbul assassination, according to employees on Capitol Hill.

The senators seek to find out whether Cairo's intelligence services gave them the narcotics, or otherwise organised a transfer.

It has been claimed that the killers of Khashoggi flew via Cairo to collect the deadly dose of drugs used in the murder.

A physician with Saudi Arabia's interior ministry subsequently injected Khashoggi within the kingdom's consulate in Istanbul.

The journalist, who was then reportedly cut up, had been there to acquire the necessary paperwork to get married.

A pro-democracy organisation founded by Khashoggi has urged a congressional investigation.

Democracy for the Arab World Now Executive Director Sarah Leah Whitson noted: "The reports that have emerged that Egyptian authorities provided the killer drugs that were used to execute Jamal Khashoggi are shocking.

"There needs to be a congressional investigation," she added.

Whitson suggested that "it is impossible that anybody other than Egyptian government officials would have coordinated with Saudi government officials on the delivery of [the] drugs".

She also asserted: "This visit by Kamel is really basically a victory lap for the Egyptians in the wake of what they feared was Biden about to get serious about changing the relationship with Egypt.

"And what they've learned is, he's not."

Meanwhile, the House Foreign Affairs Committee is also attempting to speak with Kamel.

Ex-assistant human rights secretary Tom Malinowski, a Democrat, who is on the committee, has explained that he hopes to quiz the Egyptian intelligence leader over Khashoggi.

He explained to Yahoo News: "I'd like them to know we know they helped the Saudis murder a US-based journalist".

There are also suggestions that Egyptian intelligence had helped teach the deadly "Tiger Team", to which Khashoggi's killers belonged.

The media website also heard from an insider on the Saudi side that Cairo helped with the alleged kidnapping of Prince Saud bin Saif Al-Nasr in 2015 in Italy.

Egyptian state spokespersons in Cairo and Washington did not wish to comment on inquiries by Yahoo News concerning Jamal Khashoggi's assassination.

The CIA previously found Mohammed bin Salman, Saudi Arabia's de-facto ruler and crown prince, had given the go-ahead for Khashoggi's slaying. Saudi Arabia and the crown prince have strongly denied the charge, blaming the murder on 'rogue' operatives.