RIYADH – Riyadh Saturday dismissed Ankara’s calls to extradite 18 Saudiswanted for the murder of critic Jamal Khashoggi, as Washington warned thecrisis risked destabilising the Middle East.
“The individuals are Saudi nationals. They’re detained in Saudi Arabia, andthe investigation is in Saudi Arabia, and they will be prosecuted in SaudiArabia,” Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir told a regional defence forum inBahrain.
He was responding to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan who on Fridayrenewed his call for the 18 men to be extradited for trial in Turkey.
Khashoggi, 59, who had lived in self-imposed exile in the United Statessince 2017, vanished after entering the consulate on October 2 to obtainpaperwork for his marriage to his Turkish fiancee.
Gruesome reports have alleged that he was murdered and his body dismemberedby a team sent from Saudi Arabia to silence the Washington Post columnist,who had criticised Saudi’s powerful Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman..
After weeks of denials, Riyadh has sought to draw a line under the crisiswith an investigation.
Prince Mohammad, heir to the oil-rich nation’s throne, publicly denouncedthe murder as “repulsive”, while the Saudi prosecutor acknowledged for thefirst time this week that based on the evidence of a Turkish investigationthe killing had been “premeditated”.
But US Defence Secretary Jim Mattis, who was also addressing the Manamaforum, warned that “the murder of Jamal Khashoggi in a diplomatic facilitymust concern us all greatly”.
“Failure of any nation to adhere to international norms and the rule of lawundermines regional stability at a time when it is needed most,” hestressed.
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Saudi authorities have arrested 18 men wanted by Ankara following theinternational furore over Khashoggi’s murder, which was reportedly carriedout in the consulate by a team which flew to Istanbul.
Five intelligence chiefs have been sacked, including two who were part ofthe crown prince’s inner circle.
The journalist’s murder has generated international outrage and underminedRiyadh’s relations with the United States and other Western governments.
But the Saudi foreign minister vowed Saturday “we will overcome it.”
“The issue, as I said, is being investigated. We will know the truth. Wewill hold those responsible accountable. And we will put in placemechanisms to ensure it doesn’t happen again,” Jubeir told the defenceforum.
On Thursday, CIA Director Gina Haspel briefed US President Donald Trump onthe latest developments in the investigation after a fact-finding missionto Turkey.
Pro-government Turkish media said intelligence officers showed Haspel videoimages and audio tapes of Khashoggi’s killing gathered from the consulate.
