SAUDIS DON’T KNOW WHERE JAMAL KHASHOGGI’S BODY IS, SAYS MINISTER

Riyadh does not know the location of dissident Jamal Khashoggi’s body, despite having detained the Saudi team that murdered him, a high-ranking foreign affairs official has said. The dissident journalist was dismembered after his murder on October 2 in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, but his remains have yet to be found.

Adel al-Jubeir, Saudi minister of state for foreign affairs, said the murder was carried out by Saudi officials “acting outside their scope of authority” and that 11 people have been charged. But asked where Khashoggi’s body is, he told CBS’s Face the Nation, “We don’t know.” Jubeir said the public prosecutor responsible for the case had sought evidence from Turkey but had received no response.

In the same interview, the minister denied any role by Saudi Arabia in the leak of Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos’ private messages and pictures to the American tabloid National Enquirer.

“This is something between the two parties, we have nothing to do with it,” he said, denying the kingdom had any role in the publication of lurid texts between Bezos and his girlfriend, Lauren Sánchez. “It sounds to me like a soap opera,” he said.