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ISTANBUL – Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has called Jamal Khashoggi's son, the kingdom announced Monday, expressing his condolences for the death of the journalist killed at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul by officials who reportedly included at least one member of the royal soldier around.
King Salman also issued a condolence call as international pressure on the kingdom continues to grow, even after recognizing Saturday that the Washington Post A journalist was killed on October 2 at the consulate under circumstances still contested.
Saudi royal family calls Khashoggi's son
The state-run Saudi news agency announced calls to Khashoggi's son, Salah, early Monday morning. According to statements by the agency, King Salman and Prince Mohammed expressed their condolences for the death of his father.
A Saudi friend of Khashoggi, who was in contact with him before his death, told The Associated Press that Khashoggi's son, Salah, was banned from traveling and that He had been forbidden to leave the kingdom since last year as a result of his father's criticism of the government. . The friend spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of repercussion. Saudi statements have not acknowledged the ban.
These calls come after a leaked photo apparently taken from a surveillance video showing Maher Abdulaziz Mutreb, a member of Prince Mohammed's entourage making trips to the United States, France and Spain this year, to consulate, just before the arrival of Khashoggi. Mutreb's name also corresponds to that of a first secretary who has already been a diplomat at the Saudi Embassy in London, according to a 2007 list prepared by the British Foreign Office.
Until now, Saudi Arabia has not acknowledged nor explained the presence of Mutreb in Istanbul – nor that of an expert in forensic science and autopsy, also on-site for the purpose. arrival of Khashoggi at the consulate.
At the same time, a Turkish newspaper closely linked to Turkish leader Yeni Safak said on Monday that Mutreb had telephoned the Crown Prince's secretary four times to the crown prince's personal secretary immediately after Khashoggi's death on his phone. portable.
The testimony of Turkey "will be revealed"
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that the details of Khashoggi's assassination "will be revealed naked" in a speech delivered in Parliament on Tuesday, the same day, a glitzy investment forum in Riyadh led by the Prince Mohammed.
Saudi Arabia explanation that Khashoggi was killed in a "fist fight" and 18 Saudis were arrested and subjected to international skepticism and allegations of concealment aimed at relieving Prince Mohammed of any direct responsibility. According to Turkish media and officials, a 15-member Saudi team reportedly went to Istanbul, allegedly guided Khashoggi to the consulate, cut off his fingers, killed and dismembered the 59-year-old writer.
"Why did these 15 people come here, why were 18 people arrested, all of this needs to be explained in all its details," Erdogan said.
US authorities are exerting increasing pressure on Turkey for it to disclose overwhelming evidence that Khashoggi was brutally murdered. Specifically, anonymous Turkish officials touted the alleged recording of an audio recording of the killing to reporters shortly after Khashoggi's disappearance, but nothing has yet proven its existence .
Istanbul's chief prosecutor on Monday summoned 28 other staff members of the Saudi consulate, including Turkish citizens and foreign nationals, Turkish state broadcaster TRT announced on Monday. Prosecutors have already interviewed the staff of the consulate; some Turkish employees reportedly said that they had been told not to go to work at the time of Khashoggi's disappearance.
The Turkish news agency Anadolu Agency reported Sunday that Khashoggi's fiancée, Hatice Cengiz, had benefited from police protection 24 hours a day.
Also on Sunday, footage obtained by TRT World, a Turkish news channel broadcasting in English, showed Khashoggi as he was standing in front of a police fence before entering the consulate on October 2. be searched before continuing to the building.
Congress and Trump react to "fraudulent operation"
Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir According to Fox News, Khashoggi's assassination was "a fraudulent operation" and that "we do not know where the body is."
"The people who did it did so outside of their authority," he said. "Obviously, a huge mistake has been made and what has worsened the mistake is to try to cover up." This is unacceptable for the government.
Major Garrett, White House correspondent at CBS News, says President Trump appeared as well ready to believe the claims of the Saudis that it was not a murder, that the Crown Prince himself knew nothing and that the Saudis can to conduct a credible investigation into a death that they were forced to confess, came to them.
However, a Republican in the reputed US Senate said that the Saudi explanation, which had followed the kingdom's first denials that it knew anything about Khashoggi's fate, was not credible.
Bob Corker, chairman of the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee, said Saturday in CNN's "State of the Union" that he was convinced that Prince Mohammed, heir to the largest exporter of oil in the world, was at the origin of this assassination.
The Crown Prince has "now crossed a line and there must be a punishment and a price paid for it," Corker said. He also urged Turkey to hand over the so-called audio recordings of Khashoggi's assassination to the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. The existence of such evidence has been reported in the Turkish media in a series of leaks, although Turkish officials have not yet confirmed that they had recordings.
"The Turks have talked more to the media than they have done with us," Corker said of NATO's ally.
California Representative Adam Schiff, the Democrat's top House Intelligence Committee member, said in ABC's "This Week" that the killing should be a "relationship-altering" event for the United States and the United States. Saudi Arabia, who said that he would take revenge for any economic sanctions or other moves against it.
"We need to suspend military sales, suspend some security aids and impose sanctions on anyone directly involved in this murder," said Schiff.
President Trump had also spoken of possible sanctions, but had declared that he did not want to suspend a proposed arms sale to Saudi Arabia for $ 110 billion, as this would hurt the American manufacturers. He first declared that he believed in the Saudi story and, speaking this weekend, the president praised the "very good control" of the Crown Prince over the kingdom, but acknowledged "that there were lies" with the changing explanations of the Saudis.
Mr. Trump said that he needed to learn more about the murder and would work with Congress on the American response. He also said that he would soon talk to Prince Mohammed.
European nations demand "clarification"
Britain, Germany and France issued a joint statement condemning the killing of Khashoggi, stressing that there was an "urgent need to clarify what had happened".
In a statement released on Sunday, the governments said attacks on journalists were unacceptable and "cause great concern to our three countries". According to them, the "hypotheses" proposed up to now in the Saudi inquiry must be supported by facts to be considered credible.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel told reporters in Berlin on Sunday that she was in favor of a freeze on arms exports to Saudi Arabia. The German Minister of Economy, Peter Altmaier, stressed this point on Monday, calling for a common European position, as Germany "will not approve for the time being". 39, other arms exports because we want to know what happened. "
