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Lebanon PM backs Saudi Arabia in Khashoggi case
BEIRUT, Oct 23, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – Lebanon’s premier-designate Saad Hariri
threw his support behind Saudi Arabia Tuesday as it faces outrage over the
murder of Saudi journalist and government critic Jamal Khashoggi at its
Istanbul consulate.
Hariri’s comments came less than a year after he resigned in mysterious
circumstances in a televised address from the Saudi capital, sparking rumours
he was being held there against his will.
“The measures taken by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia regarding the case of
journalist Jamal Khashoggi… come within the framework that serves the path
of justice and the disclosure of the whole truth,” a statement from his
office quoted him as saying.
On Tuesday, Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir pledged a “thorough and
complete” investigation into Khashoggi’s murder.
A tough critic of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Khashoggi
disappeared after he entered the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on October 2 to
collect paperwork for his marriage.
A few days later, a Turkish government source said police believed he was
murdered by a team sent to Istanbul, and on October 17, a Turkish newspaper
said he was tortured and decapitated inside the consulate.
The case has tarnished the image of the crown prince, and caused
policymakers and business titans to cancel their plannned attendance at a key
investment forum that opened in Riyadh on Tuesday.
Hariri said the directives of “King Salman bin Abdulaziz would put things
in the right direction and contribute to respond to the malicious campaigns
targeting the kingdom”, the statement said.
Turkey has said the murder of Khashoggi was “savagely planned”, and
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has vowed to reveal what he has said was the
“naked truth” about the killing later Tuesday.
Saudi Arabia has long been a key ally of Hariri, while Riyadh’s regional
foe Iran backs Lebanese Shiite movement Hezbollah.
But in November last year, Hariri announced he was stepping down in a
televised address from the Saudi capital, causing observers to speculate he
was being held against his will.
After French mediation, he rescinded his resignation the following month,
and Saudi Arabia has denied intimidating Hariri into quitting his post.
Hariri was named premier for a third term in May after Lebanon’s first
parliamentary elections in nine years, but has since struggled to form a
cabinet.
BSS/AFP/FI/ 1506 hrs