‘Khashoggi’s body was dismembered, destroyed after he was strangled’

France says not enough being done to find killers

THE body of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi was dismembered and destroyed after he was strangled in the consulate general of Saudi Arabia in Istanbul, the Istanbul prosecutor’s office said in a statement yesterday.

The statement came after earlier reports that Saudi Arabia’s top prosecutor, Saud Al Mojeb, arrived in Istanbul on Sunday. He has met with Istanbul’s chief prosecutor Irfan Fidan twice, and inspected the Saudi consulate. However , Turkish officials expressed “a deep distrust” toward Al Mojeb when he refused to answer questions regarding the place where Khashoggi’s body is, the Turkish newspaper reported earlier in the day.

Last week, the Saudi prosecutor general acknowledged that the journalist’s murder had been orchestrated in advance. However, Riyadh maintains that the murder had nothing to do with the Saudi Royal family, describing it as a rogue operation.

Khashoggi, known for his criticism of Saudi policies, had been working as a columnist for The

Washington Post. The journalist was last seen entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on October 2.

On October 19, Saudi Arabia admitted the journalist had died during a fight inside the consulate. Riyadh said 18 people had been arrested over their suspected involvement in the incident.

Meanwhile, France has said “not enough” is being done to find the killer of missing Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, who disappeared after entering his country’s consulate in Istanbul on 2 October. Foreign Minister Jean-yves Le Drian said that the probe by Turkish and Saudi investigators has failed to address international concerns about a possible cover-up over the murder.

“This crime has to be punished and the perpetrators identified. The truth needs to come out. And today, even though Saudi authorities have admitted that there was a murder, it’s not enough. The truth has not been revealed,” Foreign Minister Le Drian told RTL.

“The investigations need to continue. We will continue to be demanding. Depending on the results that will be announced (of the Turkish and Saudi investigations), we will implement the necessary sanctions against those guilty,” he added.

“We don’t rule out anything on the sanctions, in coordination with our European partners,” he said.