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TURKEY-SAUDI-DIPLOMACY-CRIME-INVESTIGATION
Saudi and Turkish prosecutors meet over Khashoggi investigation
ISTANBUL, Oct 29, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – Saudi Arabia’s chief prosecutor met
with his Turkish counterpart in Istanbul on Monday to discuss the
investigation into the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, whose body has
not been found, as Ankara called on the probe to be completed as soon as
possible.
The case has brought near unprecedented international scrutiny on Saudi
Arabia, which is seeking to draw a line under the crisis as Western powers
demand answers over Khashoggi’s murder.
The head of the Saudi investigation, Attorney General Sheikh Saud al-Mojeb,
met with Istanbul chief prosecutor Irfan Fidan in the city’s main Caglayan
court for around 75 minutes, the state-run Anadolu news agency reported.
Mojeb, who last week acknowledged that the killing was “premeditated” based
on Turkish evidence, arrived in Istanbul early Monday and is expected to
inspect the Saudi consulate where Khashoggi was killed.
The 59-year-old Washington Post contributor, who had criticised Saudi
Arabia’s powerful Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman, vanished after entering
the consulate on October 2 to obtain paperwork for his marriage to his
Turkish fiancee.
“We naturally see an advantage in our prosecutors sharing information and
working together,” Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu told a press
conference in Istanbul following the meeting.
“The cooperation must continue, but it must not be drawn out or turned into
a diversion. The investigation must be completed as soon as possible, so that
the whole truth is revealed,” he added.
– Body still missing –
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said that a 15-person team came
from Riyadh to kill Khashoggi, carrying out reconnaissance outside Istanbul
and deactivating security cameras at the consulate.
Gruesome reports in the Turkish media have alleged that Khashoggi’s body
was cut up into multiple pieces.
Saudi authorities have arrested 18 men over the murder, and Erdogan has
requested they be extradited for trial in Turkey.
But Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir rejected the request, saying the
men will be prosecuted in Saudi Arabia and dismissed media “hysteria”.
Erdogan, who has stopped short of directly blaming the Saudi government,
has also called on Saudi Arabia to reveal the location of Khashoggi’s body,
indicating that his country had more evidence to reveal about the killing.
Asked about the body’s whereabouts on Monday, Cavusoglu said that “as those
who committed the murder are in Saudi Arabia, Saudi Arabia has a very large
responsibility”.
Turkish investigators have searched for the body in a forest near Istanbul,
as well as using a robotic arm to inspect the sewers around the Saudi
consulate.
Saudi authorities denied Turkish police permission to search a well in the
garden of the consulate, but did allow them to take water samples for
analysis, local media reported.
US Defence Secretary Jim Mattis said Sunday that Saudi Foreign Minister
Adel al-Jubeir assured him that Riyadh would conduct a “full” investigation,
adding he was confident the probe would include Turkey’s findings.
– Backlash against the kingdom –
Riyadh initially insisted that Khashoggi left the consulate unharmed, but
as pressure grew, Saudi state media changed the story and said Khashoggi died
when an argument descended into a brawl.
The story was undercut by footage, which Erdogan confirmed, of a Saudi
official acting as a body double for Khashoggi, wearing the journalist’s
clothes when leaving the consulate to pretend to be the dead man.
Since admitting the murder was premeditated, Saudi leadership has blamed a
“rogue operation” for the killing of Khashoggi, who was once an insider in
Saudi royal circles and had lived in self-imposed exile in the United States
since 2017.
Beyond the detention of the 18 suspects, five Saudi intelligence chiefs
have been sacked, including two who were part of the crown prince’s inner
circle.
Prince Mohammed has denounced the murder as “repulsive” and strongly denied
any involvement.
However the affair has tarnished the image of the crown prince, the de
facto leader of the oil-rich Gulf nation, who has positioned himself as a
Saudi reformer.
BSS/AFP/ARS/1917 hrs