*BUENOS AIRES: *Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan demanded on Saturdaythat Saudi Arabia extradite suspects in the killing in Istanbul ofjournalist Jamal Khashoggi, taking to task the kingdom’s crown prince whowas basking in his quick return to the world stage at the G20.
Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s presence at the summit of the Group of20 powers in Buenos Aires demonstrated he was firmly in control, as he metwith Western leaders and sealed an oil pact with Russian President VladimirPutin.
But the Turkish leader, also attending the G20, was visibly cooler towardthe 33-year-old prince and on Saturday directly criticised him for thefirst time over the killing of Khashoggi, a royal confidant turned critic.
Saudi Arabia has said that 21 people are in custody and vowed to keepprobing the killing of Khashoggi, who was killed and dismembered aftervisiting the kingdom’s Istanbul consulate to handle paperwork for hisplanned wedding.
“It’s essential that these people are tried in Turkey in order to eliminateany question marks that the international community may have,” Erdogan toldreporters in Buenos Aires.
“Whoever has ordered and implemented this violent crime should be found outat once. Unless the perpetrators are found out, the whole world and theIslamic community shall not be satisfied.”
Erdogan said the Saudis have refused to help Turkish prosecutors withinformation on the whereabouts of Khashoggi’s body and the identities ofaccomplices said to have supported the visiting Saudi hit squad.
The Islamist-oriented Turkish leader, who has been vying for influence inthe region with Saudi Arabia, said he did “not wish to cause any damage” tothe royal family.
But he criticised Prince Mohammed, saying that during the summit the Saudiheir apparent gave an “unbelievable explanation” on Khashoggi’s killing.
The prince told world leaders that “unless the crime is proven, you cannotblame Saudi Arabia,” Erdogan quoted him as saying.
“Of course, that might be valid from a legal point of view,” Erdogan said.“But his own officials have admitted that this was a planned operation.”
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Erdogan said that only one G20 leader – Canadian Prime Minister JustinTrudeau – raised the journalist’s killing in the full summit.
Erdogan said that he himself did not bring up the case as time ran out inthe session.
Both French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister TheresaMay said they raised the Khashoggi case during private meetings with thecrown prince, with Macron overheard on an open microphone telling him, “Younever listen to me.”
Canada has been outspoken on human rights in Saudi Arabia, which hasretaliated by breaking off diplomatic relations and vowing to end trade.
But US President Donald Trump has said that it does not matter if the crownprince ordered the killing of Khashoggi, who lived near Washington, becausethe kingdom is a major buyer of arms, supplier of oil and opponent of Iran.
In a nod to growing criticism at home on Saudi Arabia, Trump only exchanged“pleasantries” with the crown prince, according to the White House.
But Secretary of State Mike Pompeo met with his Saudi counterpart in BuenosAires, and again defended the US embrace of the crown prince.
“There’s no direct evidence linking him to the murder of Jamal Khashoggi,”Pompeo told *CNN*.
Several US news reports say that the CIA has concluded that the crownprince ordered the killing, even if there is no “smoking gun” evidence. -APP / AFP
