Khashoggi killers will be held accountable: Saudi

washington — Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister Adel Al Jubeir said on Sunday the kingdom did not know where the body of slain journalist Jamal Khashoggi was, despite admitting to the killing and calling it a “tremendous mistake”.

Speaking in an interview on Fox News, Al Jubeir said the Saudi leadership initially believed Khashoggi had left its diplomatic mission in Istanbul, where he was last seen on October 2.

But following “reports we were getting from Turkey”, Saudi authorities began an investigation,

which discovered “he was killed in the consulate”.

“We don’t know, in terms of details, how. We don’t know where the body is,” Al Jubeir said, adding that the Saudi public prosecutor had ordered the detention of 18 individuals, “the first step in a long journey”.

He termed the killing a “tremendous mistake” but one which the US-Saudi relationship would eventually overcome.

“The individuals who did this, did this outside the scope of their authority. There obviously was a tremendous mistake made, and what compounded the mistake was the attempt to try to cover up,” Al Jubeir said.

“That is unacceptable in any government. These things unfortunately happen. We want to make sure that those who are responsible are punished, and we want to make sure we have procedures in place to prevent it from happening again.”

Al Jubeir insisted that the operation was not ordered by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

Al Jubeir was confident the US-Saudi relationship would survive the crisis.

“The strategic relationship is important for both countries,” he said. “I believe when the investigation is over and the facts are revealed, people know who is responsible and see those individuals punished, that the relationship will weather this.” —