Canadians have heard audio of murder: Trudeau

PARIS — Canadian intelligence officials have listened to a recording of the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, says Justin Trudeau, the first western leader to acknowledge his country had heard the audio.

The prime minister said Monday he hasn’t personally heard the recording Turkey provided to Saudi Arabia and allies such as the U.S. and Britain in recent days, though he said he has been told about its contents.

“Canada has been fully briefed up on what Turkey had to share,” Trudeau said during a news conference at the Canadian Embassy in Paris.

Khashoggi’s killing last month at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul further strained an already difficult relationship with Canada and renewed public outrage over Ottawa’s $15-billion arms deal with the regime.

Canada has joined other countries in applying pressure on Riyadh to provide better answers about what actually happened to the journalist.

Khashoggi, a Saudi citizen but a resident of the United States who’s been critical of the Saudi monarchy, was last seen entering the consulate in Turkey on Oct. 2, where he’d gone to get papers to marry his fiancée.

His killing has prompted widespread condemnation, including from Trudeau himself, but the prime minister didn’t say how the recordings have affected his thoughts on repercussions for the Saudis.

“We continue to be engaged with our allies on the investigation into accountability for the murder of Jamal Khashoggi, and we are in discussion with our like-minded allies as to next steps toward Saudi Arabia,” Trudeau said.

The shared audio is the latest move by Turkey to maintain international pressure on Saudi Arabia over the killing.

Trudeau said he brought the subject up during a recent phone call with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and briefly again when the two met on the weekend in Paris. Trudeau said he “thanked (Erdogan) for his strength in responding to the Khashoggi situation.”

Also Monday, British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt was in Saudi Arabia, where he met King Salman and was expected to meet Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

The crown prince is widely suspected of at least having knowledge of the killing, which involved some members of his security entourage.

Hunt — the first British minister to visit Saudi Arabia since Khashoggi was killed — said he would press the kingdom to fully co-operate with a Turkish investigation into the writer’s killing.

“The international community remain united in horror and outrage at the brutal murder of Jamal Khashoggi one month ago. It is clearly unacceptable that the full circumstances behind his murder still remain unclear,” Hunt said in a statement ahead of landing in Riyadh.

On Sunday, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo spoke with the Saudi crown prince on the telephone and “emphasized that the United States will hold all of those involved in the killing of Jamal Khashoggi accountable, and that Saudi Arabia must do the same.”

Under mounting pressure, Saudi Arabia has changed its story about the death, first saying Khashoggi walked out of the consulate the day he disappeared but eventually acknowledging he died inside. Saudi Arabia has also recently acknowledged Turkish evidence that showed the slaying was premeditated.