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Saudi Arabia admits critic Khashoggi killed in Istanbul consulate
RIYADH, Oct 20, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – Saudi Arabia on Saturday admitted that
critic Jamal Khashoggi was killed during a “brawl” inside its Istanbul
consulate, an explanation that President Donald Trump said he found credible
but failed to convince top US lawmakers.
The kingdom announced the arrest of 18 Saudis in connection with their
probe and the sacking of two top officials linked to Crown Prince Mohammed
bin Salman who has faced mounting pressure over the journalist’s
disappearance.
Khashoggi, a critic of the Islamic petro-state’s powerful crown prince and
a Washington Post contributor, was last seen on October 2 entering his
country’s consulate in Istanbul.
His disappearance had been shrouded in mystery and triggered an
international crisis, with Turkish officials accusing Saudi Arabia of a
state-sponsored killing and dismembering his body.
The admission of his death after vehement denials by the Gulf kingdom came
amid threats of US sanctions and leaves lingering questions about whether
Prince Mohammed had any role in the affair.
In the latest version of events from Riyadh, Saudi Attorney General Sheikh
Saud al-Mojeb said Khashoggi died after talks at the consulate devolved into
an altercation, without disclosing any details on the whereabouts of his
body.
“Discussions that took place between him and the persons who met him… at
the Saudi consulate in Istanbul led to a brawl and a fist fight with the
citizen, Jamal Khashoggi, which led to his death, may his soul rest in
peace,” the attorney general said in a statement.
The Saudi king also ordered the setting up of ministerial body under the
chairmanship of the crown prince, widely known as MBS, to restructure the
kingdom’s intelligence agency and “define its powers accurately”, state media
said.
Deputy intelligence chief Ahmad al-Assiri and royal court media advisor
Saud al-Qahtani, both top aides to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, were
sacked.
– ‘Intense outcry’ –
The controversy has put the kingdom — for decades a key Western ally and
bulwark against Iran in the Middle East — under unprecedented pressure to
offer an explanation to take the heat off its rulers.
It evolved into a major crisis for Prince Mohammed, a US administration
favourite whose image as a modernising Arab reformer has been gravely
undermined.
US President Donald Trump said Friday that he found credible Saudi
Arabia’s assertion that Khashoggi died as a result of a fight.
“I do, I do,” Trump said when asked if the Saudis’ explanation was
credible, while adding: “It’s early, we haven’t finished our review or
investigation.”
Trump had earlier said Washington could impose sanctions, but his
administration had been notably slow to criticise the Gulf ally despite
mounting evidence of what happened to Khashoggi.
The case has presented Trump with one of the most acute foreign policy
crises of his nearly two-year-old presidency.
“It took an intense international outcry sustained for two weeks to
acknowledge the obvious — that Khashoggi is dead, that he was killed in the
Saudi consulate,” said Kristin Diwan, of the Arab Gulf States Institute in
Washington.
“That gives you an idea of the immense financial and strategic interests
that are invested in maintaining the US partnership with Saudi Arabia and its
leadership.”
– ‘Deeply troubled’ –
Saudi officials have roundly denied that Prince Mohammed had any
involvement.
But a suspect identified by Turkey was said to be a frequent companion of
Prince Mohammed, three others were linked to his security detail and a fifth
is a high-level forensic doctor, according to The New York Times.
The decision to overhaul the intelligence apparatus and sack members of
MBS’s inner circle is designed to “distance the crown prince from the
murder”, said analysis firm Eurasia Group.
Complicating the official narrative, Ali Shihabi, head of pro-Saudi think
tank Arabia Foundation which is said to be close to the government, tweeted
that “Khashoggi died from a chokehold during a physical altercation, not a
fist fight”, citing a senior Saudi source.
But pro-government Turkish media have repeatedly claimed that Khashoggi
was tortured and decapitated by a Saudi hit squad inside the diplomatic
mission, although Turkey has yet to divulge details about the investigation.
“Each successive narrative put out by the Saudis to explain what happened
to Khashoggi has strained credulity,” Kristian Ulrichsen, a fellow at Rice
University’s Baker Institute in the United States, told AFP.
“Especially because the Saudis are still unable or unwilling to produce
the one piece of evidence — a body — that could provide a definitive answer
one way or the other.”
UN chief Antonio Gutterres said he was “deeply troubled” by the kingdom’s
disclosure on Saturday, adding there needed to be “full accountability for
those responsible.”
Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, an influential Trump ally, said he
doubted the latest admission from Saudi authorities.
“To say that I am skeptical of the new Saudi narrative about Mr Khashoggi
is an understatement,” he tweeted.
Bob Menendez, the top US Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations
Committee, called for sanctions, saying “we need to keep up international
pressure” on the kingdom.
Saudi Arabia’s admission comes after Turkish authorities widened their
probe on Friday, searching a forest in Istanbul city for further clues.
BSS/AFP/GMR/1030 hrs