Saudi admits Khashoggi died inside consulate
Saudi King Salman dismissed five officials over the incident. Western relations with the Middle East power are in turmoil.
Saudi Arabia said on Saturday that journalist Jamal Khashoggi had died in a fight inside its Istanbul consulate—Riyadh’s first acknowledgement of his death there after two weeks of denials that it had anything to do with his disappearance.
Saudi King Salman also dismissed five officials over the incident, which has caused an international outcry and thrown Western relations with the Middle East power into turmoil. Reacting to the Saudi account, US President Donald Trump said it was credible. But US lawmakers said they found it hard to believe, signalling a battle over what actions might be taken against Saudi Arabia, an important Western ally. Saudi Arabia provided no evidence to support its account of the circumstances that led to Khashoggi’s death and it was unclear whether other governments would be satisfied with it. But Trump, who has made close ties with Saudi Arabia a centerpiece of his foreign policy, said in Arizona: “I think it’s a good first step, it’s a big step.”
“Saudi Arabia has been a great ally. What happened is unacceptable,” he added, saying he would speak with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler. Trump emphasised Riyadh’s importance in countering regional rival Iran and the importance for American jobs of massive US arms sales to Saudi Arabia.
Some US lawmakers however were unpersuaded by Riyadh’s account.
“To say that I am skeptical of the new Saudi narrative about Mr. Khashoggi is an understatement,” said Republican US Senator Lindsey Graham. Khashoggi, a critic of the crown prince who lived in the United States and was a Washington Post columnist, went missing after entering the consulate on 2 October to obtain documents for his upcoming marriage. Days later, Turkish officials said they believed he was killed in the building and his body cut up, an allegation Saudi Arabia had, until now, strenuously denied. The Saudi public prosecutor said on Saturday that a fight broke out between Khashoggi and people who met him in the consulate, leading to his death. Eighteen Saudi nationals had been arrested, the prosecutor said in a statement. Saudi state media said King Salman had ordered the dismissal of five officials, including Saud alQahtani, a royal court adviser seen as the right-hand man to Crown Prince Mohammed, and deputy intelligence chief Ahmed Asiri. The question is, has Brussels checkmated Theresa May? The Irish border imbroglio has pushed the UK Prime Minister into a corner. No one in the UK will accept what Brussels is proposing, while Brussels has rejected UK’s proposals. Some folks are wondering if this is just a cunning ruse to achieve a second referendum, as it appears there is nothing left to negotiate, except saving the face of the EU. Unity in the EU is fragile: Italy’s populist government resent having to send their 2019 Budget for approval to the European Commission, who reportedly have considered rejecting it; the election results in Germany’s Bavaria, which enjoys a stable economy and low unemployment, saw the AfD (Alternative for Germany) party surge ahead on their policies for stricter migration; Poland has already annoyed the EU by reforming its judicial system in the Supreme Court; Hungary is facing disciplinary action from European Parliament over “breaches of core values”; Estonia’s Eurosceptic EKRE party (Conservative People’s Party of Estonia) is gaining ground in advance of the March 2019 election; Greece cannot