Saudis push back against ‘threats’
Kingdom faces U.S. pressure to answer charges
• Saudi Arabia pushed back strongly Sunday against what it called “threats” as it battles growing U.S. pressure over allegations it is responsible for the death of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi, who disappeared inside its consulate in Istanbul 12 days ago.
The kingdom’s government is as “glorious and steadfast as ever” and neither threats of sanctions nor the repetition of “false accusations” will hurt it, the official news agency said, even as the Saudi financial market plummeted.
U.S. President Donald Trump had said a day earlier that “severe punishment” would follow if it is found that Saudi Arabia killed Khashoggi. In a joint statement Sunday, Britain, France and Germany also expressed “grave concern” and called for a “credible investigation.” Turkish officials have accused Saudi Arabia of not co-operating fully with efforts to determine what happened to Khashoggi.
The stronger line from the White House comes after the release Friday of American pastor Andrew Brunson, who had been held for two years in Turkey and was the focus of a diplomatic dispute between Ankara and Washington. Following Turkey’s decision to free him, tensions have shifted more sharply to the Saudis’ historic alliance with the United States.
Khashoggi was last seen at 1:14 p.m. on Oct. 2 stepping through the grey metal gates to the Saudi mission, where he planned to complete paperwork for his wedding.
Turkey says it believes he was killed inside, telling U.S. officials it has audio and video recordings from his final moments to prove it. Saudi Arabia has vehemently denied having anything to do with his disappearance.
Speaking a day after Khashoggi was last seen, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said in an interview with Bloomberg that Turkish authorities were welcome to search inside the consulate building. “We have nothing to hide,” he said.
But Turkish authorities are still waiting to be given access, and Saudi Arabia is not co-operating, two Turkish officials said Sunday. While the two countries have announced a joint investigative committee, the Saudi request for it is largely an attempt by Riyadh to convey the appearance of co-operation, said one Turkish official, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss the frustrations.
“There is no joint investigation team,” he said, adding that Turkey is the only one actually investigating. “We accepted it because if we turned them down, they would have complained we were preventing them from co-operating.”
Members of the Saudi team were seen Saturday at the Saudi consul general’s residence, a building also of interest to investigators. Several cars, including a black Mercedes-Benz Vito van, were seen driving the 500 yards from the consulate to the residence an hour after Khashoggi entered the building. Turkish police cameras outside did not capture him leaving on foot.
A steady drip of leaks from Turkish officials has ratcheted up pressure on Saudi Arabia, but so far Turkey has not released all the evidence it has told U.S. officials it possesses.
That may be attributable to efforts to reach an agreement with Riyadh in which it can save face and prevent completely blowing up the bilateral relationship, said Soner Cagaptay, a Turkey analyst at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.
After more than a week of growing concern, high-profile investors pulled out of Prince Mohammad’s forthcoming investment conference, nicknamed “Davos in the Desert.”
The heads of the World Bank and Uber are among a growing group of major figures in international finance who will boycott the event.
In an interview with Lesley Stahl of CBS’s 60 Minutes set to air Sunday, Trump called the journalist’s suspected murder “really terrible and disgusting.”
“We would be very upset and angry if that were the case,” he said of Saudi Arabia’s potential responsibility. “As of this moment, they deny it, and they deny it vehemently. Could it be them? Yes.”