‘TOP OFFICIALS ORDERED HIT’

Erdogan accuses ‘highest levels’ of Saudi govt of ordering murder

TURKEY President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the order to murder Jamal Khashoggi came from “the highest levels” of the Saudi government on Friday as he promised no let-up in the hunt for his killers.

A month on from Khashoggi’s murder in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, Erdogan said he did “not believe for a second” that King Salman was to blame.

But he pointedly failed to absolve Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman of responsibility for unleashing a “death squad” against the Saudi journalist, whose death has badly tainted the kingdom’s de facto ruler.

In an editorial for Khashoggi’s former employer, The Washington Post, Erdogan accused authorities in Riyadh of refusing to answer key questions about the murder, despite their arrest of 18 suspects a fortnight ago.

“Over the course of the past month, Turkey has moved heaven and earth to shed light on all aspects of this case. As a result of our efforts, the world has learned that Khashoggi was killed in cold blood by a death squad, and it has been established that his murder was premeditated,” Erdogan wrote in The Post.

“We know that the perpetrators are among the 18 suspects detained in Saudi Arabia. We also know that those individuals came to carry out their orders: Kill Khashoggi and leave. Finally, we know that the order to kill Khashoggi came from the highest levels of the Saudi government.”

But he said his government would keep asking other questions “the Saudi authorities have refused to answer”, such as the whereabouts of Khashoggi’s body and who ordered his assassination.

AFP PIC A mock street sign reading ‘Khashoggi Street’ is erected by Amnesty International activists on the street in front of the Saudi Arabia embassy in London on Friday to mark one month since journalist Jamal Khashoggi was killed in Saudi Arabia’s consulate in Istanbul.