Saudi chief prosecutor to visit Istanbul over Khashoggi murder

ANKARA: Saudi Arabia’s chief prosecutor will visit Istanbul on Sunday to speak with Turkish authorities as part of the investigation into the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, Turkey’s president said yesterday.

“They (the Saudis) are sending the chief prosecutor on Sunday to Turkey,” President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said, adding that Ankara had more evidence on the killing.

The 59-year-old Khashoggi, a Washington Post contributor and a critic of Riyadh, was killed on Oct 2 while visiting the Saudi consulate in Istanbul to obtain paperwork for his marriage to a Turkish woman.

Riyadh acknowledged on Thursday that the murder appeared to have been premeditated, on the basis of evidence supplied by Turkey.

Turkish media have published a series of grisly revelations about the murder.

Erdogan, who has so far stopped short of directly blaming the Saudi government, said Turkey had already shared evidence with countries including Saudi Arabia and added it had even more.

“It is not that we don’t have any other information or documents. We do. Tomorrow is another day,” he said.

The Turkish leader had mocked Saudi Arabia’s initial explanation of Khashoggi’s disappearance – that he left the consulate alive – as ‘childish’ and ‘far from state seriousness’.

He pressed Riyadh to reveal who ordered the killing and the whereabouts of the body. “You need to show this body,” he said. He also said that the 18 Saudis detained over the murder knew who killed Khashoggi.

“The culprit is among them. If that is the case, then who is the local conspirator? You have to tell,” said Erdogan.

“Unless you tell, Saudi Arabia will not be free from this suspicion.”

Erdogan on Wednesday spoke on the phone with Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman for the first time since the murder. — AFP