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TURKEY-SAUDI-POLITICS-DIPLOMACY-MEDIA
Saudi rejects ‘baseless’ murder claims over missing journalist
DUBAI, Oct 13, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – Saudi Arabia dismissed on Saturday
accusations that Jamal Khashoggi was ordered murdered by a hit squad inside
its Istanbul consulate as “lies and baseless allegations”, as Riyadh and
Ankara spar over the missing journalist’s fate.
A Saudi delegation was in Turkey for talks on the case, which threatens not
only to harm fragile relations between the two countries but also to do
serious damage to the reformist credentials of Crown Prince Mohammed bin
Salman and the kingdom’s ties to the West.
As the controversy intensified, the Washington Post reported Turkish
officials had recordings made from inside the building that allegedly proved
their claims Khashoggi was tortured and killed at the consulate.
Big names from media and business have already cancelled appearances at a
major conference in Riyadh this month and both the IMF chief and the US
treasury secretary made their attendance conditional on the findings in the
case.
In the first Saudi ministerial reaction to Turkish accusations that
Khashoggi was killed, Interior Minister Prince Abdel Aziz bin Saud bin Nayef
condemned “what has been reported in certain media concerning false
accusations against Saudi Arabia… in the case of the disappearance of
citizen Khashoggi”.
“What has been reported on the matter of orders to kill him is a lie and a
baseless allegation,” the minister said in comments carried by the official
Saudi Press Agency.
he added the kingdom was “in compliance with international laws and
conventions”.
Saudi journalist and Washington Post contributor Khashoggi vanished on
October 2 after entering the consulate to obtain documents for his upcoming
marriage.
– Working group –
The Saudi delegation, whose composition was not immediately clear, is
expected to meet with Turkish officials in Ankara at the weekend, state media
said on Friday.
It is likely that they will take part in a joint working group on the case,
whose creation was announced Thursday by Turkish presidential spokesman
Ibrahim Kalin following a request by Saudi Arabia.
A Saudi official source quoted by SPA news agency said it was “a positive
move” Turkey had agreed to the creation of what it described as a “joint
action team”.
The Turkish leadership has so far stopped short of accusing Saudi Arabia,
although pro-government media have published sensational claims, including
that an “assassination team” was sent to Istanbul to kill Khashoggi.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has challenged Saudi Arabia to
provide CCTV images to back up its account that Khashoggi left the consulate
safely.
Khashoggi, a Saudi national living in the US since September 2017 fearing
arrest, criticised some policies of Mohammed bin Salman and Riyadh’s
intervention in the war in Yemen.
The Washington Post reported the Turkish government has told US officials
it has audio and video recordings which show how Khashoggi was “interrogated,
tortured and then murdered” inside the consulate before his body was
dismembered.
Turkish officials contacted by AFP refused to comment on the veracity of
the report.
– ‘Horrified’ –
IMF chief Christine Lagarde said on Saturday she was “horrified” by reports
about the Saudi dissident’s fate, while US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin
expressed “concern”.
But both said that for now they still planned to attend an October 23-25
conference in Riyadh, dubbed “Davos in the Desert” after the World Economic
Forum in the Swiss resort.
“The answer is for now I am” still going, Mnuchin said. “If more
information comes out over the next week, I will obviously take that into
account.”
Lagarde said she had to “conduct the business of the IMF in all corners in
the world”.
“So at this point of time my intention is to not change my plans and to be
very attentive to the information that is coming out in the next few days.”
Bloomberg, the Financial Times, The Economist and The New York Times
withdrew as the event’s media sponsors, while the CEO of ride-hailing app
Uber, Dara Khosrowshahi said he would no longer be attending unless “a
substantially different set of facts emerges”.
– ‘Arguments, shouting’ –
Ankara and Riyadh have been on opposing sides in the region on key issues,
including the ousting of the Islamist Egyptian government and last year’s
Saudi-led blockade on Turkey’s regional ally Qatar. Yet as key Sunni Muslim
powers they have maintained cordial relations.
But despite Riyadh’s agreement on Tuesday to let Turkish authorities search
the Saudi mission, the probe has not yet taken place. The two sides have been
in intense contacts to resolve the issue, local media reported.
Pro-government Turkish newspaper Sabah said officials wanted to search the
building with luminol, a chemical that allows forensic teams to discover
blood traces, but the Saudis had so far refused.
Officers were looking into sound recordings sent from a smart watch
Khashoggi was wearing when he entered the consulate to a mobile phone he gave
to his Turkish fiancee outside, Hatice Cengiz.
Turkish daily Milliyet reported “arguments and shouting” could be heard on
the recordings.
BSS/AFP/GMR/1308 hrs