Hunt’s Saudi mission over murder

JEREMY Hunt will fly to Saudi Arabia today to demand answers over the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

The Foreign Secretary will meet King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman during his visit to the oil-rich Gulf state. He will say it is unacceptable that details of the killing remain unclear.

Mr Hunt is the first minister to visit Saudi Arabia since Mr Khashoggi was killed by a 15-strong hit squad flown into Istanbul from Riyadh.

Speaking ahead of the visit, he said: ‘The international community remain united in horror and outrage at the brutal murder of Jamal Khashoggi one month ago. It is clearly unacceptable that the full circumstances behind his murder still remain unclear.

‘We encourage the Saudi authorities to co-operate fully with the Turkish investigation into his death, so that we deliver justice for his family and the watching world.’

Saudi authorities admit the killing was premeditated but have not revealed the location of the body. They claim the crown prince was not aware of the plan, which was carried out by a team of ‘rogue agents’.

Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan revealed on Saturday that audio recordings of the killing had been given to a number of governments.

‘We gave them the tapes. We gave them to Saudi Arabia, to America, to the Germans, the French, to the British, to all of them,’ he said. ‘Saudi officials also listened to the conversations and they know for certain who among the 15 is the killer or are the killers.’ During the trip, Mr Hunt will press for an end to the bloodshed in Yemen. The Foreign Secretary will also visit the United Arab Emirates, where he will raise the case of British student Matthew Hedges who has been charged with spying ‘for a foreign state’.

Mr Hunt will hold talks with the Yemeni vice president.