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Saudis vow ‘complete’ probe of Khashoggi murder: Mattis
PRAGUE, Oct 28, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – Saudi Arabia has promised a “full”
investigation into the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, US Defence
Secretary Jim Mattis said Sunday following talks with Saudi Foreign Minister
Adel al-Jubeir in Bahrain.
“We discussed it… the need of transparency, full and complete
investigation. Full agreement from FM Jubeir, no reservations at all,” Mattis
told reporters following the talks, during which he warned the Saudi kingdom
that the murder attributed to the Saudi authorities risked destabilising the
region.
“No reservations at all. He (Jubeir) said we need to know what happened
and it was very collaborative, in agreement,” the Pentagon chief told
reporters on a flight from Manama to Prague where he will mark the centenary
of Czechoslovakia.
Saudi journalist Khashoggi, 59, who had criticised the kingdom’s powerful
Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, had lived in self-imposed exile in the
United States since 2017.
He was murdered after entering his country’s Istanbul consulate on October
2 to obtain paperwork to marry his Turkish fiancee. Gruesome reports have
alleged that the Washington Post columnist was killed and dismembered by a
team sent from Saudi Arabia to silence him.
After weeks of denials, Riyadh has sought to draw a line under the crisis
with an investigation.
Prince Mohammed, heir to the oil-rich nation’s throne, publicly denounced
the murder as “repulsive”, while the Saudi prosecutor acknowledged for the
first time this week that based on the evidence of a Turkish investigation
the killing had been “premeditated”.
But Riyadh on Saturday dismissed Ankara’s calls to extradite 18 Saudis
being held over Khashoggi’s murder, as Washington warned the crisis risked
destabilising the Middle East.
Addressing a forum in Manama on Saturday, Mattis warned that “the murder
of Jamal Khashoggi in a diplomatic facility must concern us all greatly”.
“Failure of any nation to adhere to international norms and the rule of
law undermines regional stability at a time when it is needed most,” he
stressed.
The murder, which has tarnished the image of Crown Prince Mohammed, has
sparked a wave of international criticism and affected Washington’s relations
with the kingdom.
The United States relies heavily on Saudi Arabia to counter Iran’s
influence in the region and to defend the security of Israel.
Mattis did not have a formal bilateral meeting with Jubeir on the
sidelines of the Manama forum, where he met with several Arab and European
leaders.
The two men spoke at a dinner gathering all the ministers.
BSS/AFP/FI/ 1845 hrs