Jamal Khashoggi death: World responds to Saudi Arabia’s admission journalist was killed inside Istanbul consulate
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The UK, France and Germany have demanded "credible facts" from Saudi Arabia after the kingdom admitted dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi was killed inside its Istanbul consulate.
Riyadh has claimed the Washington Post reporter died in a “brawl” at the building, a version of events that has been widely disputed.
Saudi authorities are facing increasing international pressure to explain what happened after Khashoggi entered the consulate on 2 October, with US politicians calling for the kingdom to face sanctions and directly accusing Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman of ordering his murder.
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Turkish authorities investigating Khashoggi’s death suspect the journalist was tortured and then murdered by a team of hit men before his body was cut up and disposed of.
An anonymous Saudi official has claimed Riyadh was trying to convince Khashoggi to return to his homeland by offering him a lucrative job as incentive to stop his criticism of the regime.
He then suggested the situation escalated into a fight, which ended in the reporter’s death.
However, this account has been disputed, with questions raised over why a doctor reported to be an expert in forensic medicine was among the 15 men thought to have confronted Khashoggi.
Donald Trump, who initially said he believed the Saudi account, has now said the US wants to get to the bottom of what took place inside the consulate.
In Europe, German chancellor Angela Merkel has described the Saudi explanation of Khashoggi’s death as “inadequate”, while her foreign minister has said Berlin will reassess its arms sales to the kingdom.
Britain said on Saturday it was examining its “next steps” after Riyadh announced confirmation of the journalist’s death.
Despite offering numerous defences of the Saudi regime in the weeks since Khashoggi first disappeared, Donald Trump is thought to privately doubt the kingdom’s inconsistent explanation for the journalist’s death.
He is also reportedly worried by his son-in-law Jared Kushner’s close relationship with the state’s de facto leader, crown prince Mohammed bin Salman, which he considers to be a “liability” for the White House.
The Scottish Government has scrapped plans to appoint an energy specialist to help boost exports to Saudi Arabia in the wake of the killing of Jamal Khashoggi.
Holyrood had announced proposals earlier this month to appoint five new in-market energy specialists in countries seen as having significant growth opportunities for energy supply chain exports from Scotland, including the Gulf kingdom.
However, recruitment for the Saudi post will no longer go ahead, a spokesperson for the government said on Sunday.
“We share the widespread international concern following the disappearance of Jamal Khashoggi, and in light of those concerns Scottish Development International will not be proceeding with this particular appointment,” she said.
Democratic senator Dick Durbin has called for the Saudi ambassador to the US to be expelled over the Khashoggi case.
Speaking to NBC's Meet the Press, minority whips said he did not accept the Saudi government’s story as credible and called on “civilised countries” across the globe to take action.
“The only person on earth outside of the Saudi kingdom who appears to accept [the Saudi version of events] is President Donald Trump,” Senator Durbin said.
“Here’s what we ought to do and we ought to do it tomorrow morning, we ought to formally expel the Saudi ambassador from the United States until there is the completion of a third party investigation into this kidnap, murder and god knows what followed.
“Unless the Saudi kingdom understands that civilised countries around the world are going to reject this conduct and make sure that they pay a price for it, they will continue doing it.”
A joint statement by Britain, France and Germany has said “nothing can justify” the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi inside Saudi Arabia’s Istanbul consulate, as the nations demand “credible facts” over the death.
The three countries said they condemned the alleged murder “in the strongest possible terms.”
The statement adds there is an “urgent need for clarification on exactly what happened” when Khashoggi entered the consulate on 2 October.
Turkey's president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, says he will announce details of the Turkish investigation into the death of Saudi writer Jamal Khashoggi's on Tuesday.
Speaking to supporters on Sunday in Istanbul, Mr Erdogan said Turkey is seeking justice and that he will “go into detail” in a speech to ruling party members in parliament.
Turkish pro-government media say a hit squad traveled from Saudi Arabia to kill Khashoggi in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.
Saudi Arabia's foreign minister has said officials investigating Jamal Khashoggi's death do not yet know exactly how he died or where his remains are.
Adel Al-Jubeir's comments, in an interview with Fox News, would appear to be at odds with the Saudi regime's official explanation that the journalist died in a "fist fight" at the country's Istanbul consulate.
"He was killed in the consulate. We don't know in terms of details how. We don't know where the body is," the minister said. "We are determined to uncover every stone... We are determined to punish those who are responsible for this murder."
Jubeir is the first senior Saudi official to speak on the record since the regime admitted on Saturday that Khashoggi was dead.
Speaking to Fox News host Bret Baier, he described Khashoggi's death as a "huge and grave mistake" and promised the journalist's family that those responsible will be punished.
He said: "This is a terrible mistake. This is a terrible tragedy. Our condolences go out to them. We feel their pain.
"Unfortunately, a huge and grave mistake was made and I assure them that those responsible will be held accountable for this."
A leading Republican senator has said he believes Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman was responsible for Jamal Khashoggi's death.
Senator Bob Corker, chairman of the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee, told CNN: "Do I think he did it? Yes, I think he did it."
Corker told politics programme State of the Union that "has to be a punishment" if investigations show bin Salman was behind the journalist's killing.
"Let's let this play out, but my guess is that at the end of the day the United States and the rest of the world will believe fully that he did it," Corker said.
His comments come after Donald Trump, who initially indicated he believed the Saudi regime's denial of involvement, joined calls from other Western leaders for answers.
Corker said the Saudis had "lost all credibility as it relates to explaining what's happened".
Germany will halt arm exports to Saudi Arabia until Jamal Khashoggi's death has been explained and those responsible for his death have been brought to justice, Angela Merkel has said.
Speaking during a regional election campaign rally, the chancellor said: "First, we condemn this act in the strongest terms.
"Second, there is an urgent need to clarify what happened - we are far from this having been cleared up and those responsible held to account. As far as arms exports are concerned, those can't take place in the current circumstances."
Saudi Arabia is one of the biggest buyers of German arms.
Earlier, Germany's foreign minister Heiko Maas had said there was "no basis" for arms exports to the Saudis continue while the circumstances of Khashoggi's death remained unclear.
There are growing calls from US politicians, including senior Republicans, for Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to be held responsible for Jamal Khashoggi's death.
Some are calling for sanctions, including an end to arms sales, against the Saudis.
"I feel certain that the crown prince was involved," Republican senator Rand Paul told Fox News.
He added: "I think we really need to discontinue our arms sales to Saudi Arabia and have a long and serious discussion about whether or not they want to be an ally or they want to be an enemy."
California Representative Adam Schiff, the top Democrat on the House intelligence committee, said told ABC that Khashoggi's killing should be a "relationship-altering" event for the US and Saudi Arabia.
"We ought to suspend military sales, we ought to suspend certain security assistance and we ought to impose sanctions on any of those that were directly involved in this murder," Mr Schiff added.
Donald Trump said last week he saw no reason to cut off weapons sales to Saudi Arabia in response to Khashoggi's disappearance, but US Congress has the power to block such sales.
Here's the full joint statement the UK, France and Germany released earlier today, calling for "credible facts" from Saudi Arabia:
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