Saudi minister: Crown Prince had no part in Khashoggi death
Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman had absolutely nothing to do with the killing of Jamal Khashoggi, Foreign Minister Adel Al Jubeir said on Thursday, shortly after the country’s public prosecution called for five people charged in the case to be given the death penalty.
Deputy public prosecutor Shaalan Al Shaalan said in Riyadh that the role of the crown prince’s former adviser, Saud Al Qahtani, was to meet with the team that was ordered to repatriate Khashoggi. Eleven of the 21 people held have been charged with murder, Mr Al Shaalan said. Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said the measures announced by the public prosecutor’s office were “positive, but insufficient”, and repeated Ankara’s call that the 15-man team be tried in Turkey.
The Saudi prosecutor’s update on the case was followed by the US State Department announcing sanctions against Mr Al Qahtani, “his subordinate Maher Mutreb, the Saudi Consul General in Istanbul Mohammed Al Otaibi, and 14 other members of an operations team” with a role in the killing, under the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act.
Mr Al Jubeir said the killing of the journalist was a legal matter and should not be politicised.
“The politicisation of the issue contributes to a fissure in the Islamic world, while the kingdom seeks the unity of the Islamic world,” he said.
Mr Al Jubeir said there were unanswered questions, but Ankara had refused three requests from Riyadh to provide proof of their accounts of the killing.
“Absolutely, his royal highness the crown prince has nothing to do with this issue,” Mr Al Jubeir told the media at a press conference in Riyadh.
He said the kingdom was investigating and holding those responsible to account “to make sure this doesn’t happen again”.
The deputy public prosecutor said a team was formed to bring in Khashoggi under the orders of Mr Al Qahtani.
Mr Al Shaalan said Mr Al Qahtani had been banned from travelling and remains under investigation. The case has been transferred to court while the investigation continues, he said.
Mr Al Shaalan said the deputy chief of Saudi intelligence, Gen Ahmed Al Assiri, had given the order to force Khashoggi to return to Saudi Arabia, while the head of the negotiating team that flew to Istanbul had ordered his murder.
Mr Al Assiri was fired for ordering Khashoggi’s forced return.
Khashoggi’s body was dismembered and disposed of somewhere outside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, the deputy prosecutor said.
A member of the team sent to Istanbul assessed that a repatriation would be difficult and decided to kill Khashoggi in the consulate, he said.