The United Nations and the United States have expressed shock at Saudi Arabia\u2019s confirmation that journalist Jamal Khashoggi was killed inside its Consulate in Istanbul after a fight.
\nIn a statement released by his Spokesperson in New York, the UN Secretary-General, Anthonio Guterres said that he was \u201cdeeply troubled\u201d by the Saudi Arabia\u2019s confirmation.
\nAfter weeks of denials, Saudi Arabia has for the first time confirmed that Khashoggi was killed in a \u201cfistfight\u201d inside its consulate in the Turkish city of Istanbul.
\nA tweet posted by the Saudi Foreign Ministry on Friday stated that the missing Saudi journalist, a columnist with the Washington Post newspaper, was killed, claims reportedly echoed on Saudi State Television and news agency.
\nThe tweet said that \u201cdiscussions that took place with the citizen Jamal Khashoggi during his presence in the Consulate of the Kingdom in Istanbul\u2026did not go as required and escalated negatively which led to a fight\u2026which aggregated the situation and led to his death.\u201d
\nMost countries have condemned the killing, including Israel, though its Prime Minister did not think it was worth throwing Saudi Arabia under the bus.
\nMany believe that the cosy relationship between the Late Khassoggi and terrorist elements like Al Qaeda and the Muslim Brotherhood may have also necessitated the Israeli position.
\nPrime Minister\u00a0Benjamin Netanyahu said last year that while\u00a0the murder of Khashoggi in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul is “horrific,” it does not outweigh the strategic importance of Saudi Arabia.
\n“What happened in Istanbul is nothing short of horrific. But it\u2019s balanced by the importance of Saudi Arabia and the role it plays in the Middle East,” Netanyahu told foreign reporters at an event in Jerusalem. “Because if Saudi Arabia would be destabilized, the world, not the Middle East, will be destabilized,” Netanyahu said.
\nThe MEE (Middle East Eye) had reported that the heat on Saudi Arabia made Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman attempt to persuade Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to start a conflict with Hamas in Gaza as part of a plan to divert attention from the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
\nA war in Gaza\u00a0was among a range of measures and scenarios proposed by an emergency task force set up to counter increasingly damaging leaks about Khashoggi’s murder coming from Turkish authorities, according to sources with knowledge of the group’s activities.
\nThe task force, which is composed of officials from the royal court, the foreign and defence ministries, and the intelligence service, briefs the the crown prince every six hours, MEE was told.
\nIt advised bin Salman that a war in Gaza would distract US President Donald Trump’s attention and refocus Washington\u2019s attention on the role Saudi Arabia plays in bolstering Israeli strategic interests.
\nIt also advised bin Salman to \u201cneutralise Turkey by all means\u201d – including attempts to bribe Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan with offers to buy Turkish arms and statements by the crown prince attempting to shore up relations\u00a0between Riyadh and Ankara.
\nThe Secretary-General of the UN said he was \u201cdeeply troubled by the confirmation of the death of Jamal Khashoggi and extends his condolences to Mr Khashoggi\u2019s family and friends\u201d.
\nGuterres stressed the need for a prompt, thorough and transparent investigation into the circumstances of Khashoggi\u2019s death and full accountability for those responsible.
\nSaudi public prosecutor also announced on state television that a primary investigation into high-profile journalist Jamal Khashoggi\u2019s disappearance had confirmed he was dead.
\nThe public prosecutor said: \u201cThe discussions between Jamal Khashoggi and those he met at the kingdom\u2019s consulate in Istanbul \u2026 devolved into a fistfight, leading to his death.
\n\u201cThe Kingdom of Saudi Arabia expresses deep regret at the painful developments that have taken place in this case and affirms the commitment of the authorities in the Kingdom to bring the facts to the attention of the public and to hold accountable all those involved\u201d.
\nGuterres\u2019s comments were the latest in a chorus of concern and condemnation over Khashoggi\u2019s disappearance from UN officials and independent UN human rights experts.
\nOver the last few days, statements regarding the Khashoggi disappearance had been released by the offices of UN human rights chief Michelle Bachelet, the Chair of the UN Working Group on Enforced Disappearances, Bernard Duhaime, and the Chair of the UN Working Group on Business and Human Rights, Dante Pesce.
\nEarlier, White House Spokesperson Sarah Sanders said in a statement that Washington acknowledged Saudi Arabia\u2019s announcement and was \u201cclosely\u201d following the developments.
\n\u201cWe will continue to closely follow the international investigations into this tragic incident and advocate for justice that is timely, transparent, and in accordance with all due process.
\n\u201cWe are saddened to hear confirmation of Mr Khashoggi\u2019s death, and we offer our deepest condolences to his family, fiancee, and friends,\u201d Sanders said.
\nU.S. President Donald Trump at Luke Air Force Base in Arizona that Saudi Arabia\u2019s explanation for how Khashoggi was killed was credible, adding that what happened at the consulate is \u201cunacceptable\u201d.
\nTrump said Khashoggi\u2019s death was a \u201chorrible event\u201d that has not gone \u201cunnoticed\u201d but noted that the announcement on the circumstances of the journalist\u2019s death was a \u201cgood first step\u201d.
\n\u201cSaudi Arabia has been a great ally, but what happened is unacceptable,\u201d Trump said, adding he prefers that any sanctions against Riyadh does not include cancelling big defence orders.
\nThe Saudi government said it arrested 18 Saudis as a result of the initial investigation and fired five top officials, including Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman\u2019s adviser Saud al-Qahtani and deputy intelligence chief Maj.-Gen. Ahmed al-Assiri.
\nKhashoggi, a critic of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, went missing on Oct. 2 after entering the consulate in Istanbul to obtain documents needed for his upcoming marriage.
\nSaudi officials had previously denied Khashoggi had been killed and dismembered inside the diplomatic facility, insisting the journalist left the consulate before disappearing.
\nThe public prosecutor last Thursday named the head of the negotiating team sent to repatriate him as the one who ordered his killing adding that the whereabouts of Mr Khashoggi\u2019s body is still unknown.
\nThe public prosecutor said he was seeking the death penalty for five out of 11 suspects charged with the murder of Mr Khashoggi.
\nHe said 11 out of 21 suspects had been indicted and that their cases would be referred to court, while the investigation with the remaining suspects would continue in order to determine their role in the crime.
\nMr Khashoggi, a critic of Saudi policy, was killed in the country\u2019s Istanbul consulate in Turkey on October 2.
\nHe was killed after a struggle by a lethal injection dose and his body was dismembered and taken out of the building, Mr Shaalan told reporters in Riyadh.
\nRiyadh had offered numerous contradictory explanations for Khashoggi\u2019s disappearance before saying he was killed in a rogue operation.
\nThe case sparked global outcry, opened the kingdom to possible international sanctions and tarnished the image of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
\nTurkish officials had accused Prince Mohammed of ordering the murder while President Erdogan said the killing was ordered at the \u201chighest levels\u201d of the Saudi government.
\nU.S. President Donald Trump had suggested ultimate responsibility lay with the prince as de facto ruler.
\nA travel ban had been imposed on a top aide to the crown prince, Saud al-Qahtani, while investigations continued over his role, Mr Shaalan said.
\nHe said Mr Qahtani had met the team ordered to repatriate Mr Kashoggi ahead of their journey to Istanbul to brief them on the journalist\u2019s activities.
\nMr Qahtani has already been fired from the royal court.
\nTurkey says it has a recording related to the killing which it has shared with Western allies.
\nPresident Tayyip Erdogan said the recordings are \u201cappalling\u201d and shocked a Saudi intelligence officer who listened to them.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The United Nations and the United States have expressed shock at Saudi Arabia\u2019s confirmation that journalist Jamal Khashoggi was killed inside its Consulate in Istanbul after a fight. In a statement released by his Spokesperson in New York, the UN Secretary-General, Anthonio Guterres said that he was \u201cdeeply troubled\u201d by the Saudi Arabia\u2019s confirmation. After […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":17356,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5777,7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-17355","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-features","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17355","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=17355"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17355\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=17355"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=17355"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=17355"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}