Saudi Arabia would prosecute the suspects in the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, the Saudi foreign minister said yesterday in response to a call by Turkey for their extradition.
“On the issue of extradition, the individuals are Saudi nationals. They’re detained in Saudi Arabia and the investigation is in Saudi Arabia, and they will be prosecuted in Saudi Arabia,” Saudi Minister of Foreign Affairs Adel al-Jubeir said at a regional defense forum in the Bahraini capital, Manama.
Jubeir’s comments came the day after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called for the extradition of 18 Saudi nationals authorities say were involved in the murder of Khashoggi, a Saudi government critic killed in his country’s consulate in Istanbul on Oct. 2.
After denying knowledge of Khashoggi’s whereabouts for nearly three weeks, Riyadh admitted Khashoggi’s murder had been “premeditated,” but denied the involvement of the kingdom’s powerful Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
“We will overcome it,” Jubeir told the forum. “The issue, as I said, is being investigated. We will know the truth. We will hold those responsible accountable. And we will put in place mechanisms to ensure it doesn’t happen again.”
In a speech in Ankara on Friday, Erdogan said Saudi Arabia’s chief prosecutor would visit Istanbul today to speak to Turkish authorities as part of the investigation.
“It is clear that the judicial system in Turkey is better equipped to genuinely serve the cause of justice in this case,” a senior Turkish official said.
Saudi authorities earlier arrested 18 men wanted by Ankara following an international furor over the death of Khashoggi, a Washington Post contributor.
The killing has tainted the image of Prince Mohammed, who has positioned himself as a reformer, and tested ties between Washington and Riyadh as Western powers demand answers over Khashoggi’s death.
Erdogan called on Riyadh to reveal who ordered the killing and the whereabouts of Khashoggi’s body.
“You need to show this body,” Erdogan said.
“The culprit is among them. If that is not the case, then who is the local conspirator? You have to tell,” he said. “Unless you tell, Saudi Arabia will not be free from this suspicion.”
Khashoggi, 59, who had lived in self-imposed exile in the US since last year, was not seen again after entering the consulate to obtain paperwork for his marriage to his Turkish fiancee, Hatice Cengiz.
A tearful Cengiz said in a TV interview on Friday that she never would have let Khashoggi enter the consulate if she had thought that “Saudi Arabian authorities would hatch a plot” to kill him.
“I demand that all those involved in this savagery from the highest to the lowest levels are punished and brought to justice,” Cengiz told the Haberturk TV station.
She said she had not been contacted by Saudi officials and that she was unlikely to go to Saudi Arabia for a possible funeral if Khashoggi’s missing body is found.
Erdogan said that more evidence was yet to be revealed.
“It is not that we don’t have any other information or documents. We do. Tomorrow is another day,” he said.
‘IN A DIFFERENT PLACE’: The envoy first visited Shanghai, where he attended a Chinese basketball playoff match, and is to meet top officials in Beijing tomorrow US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday arrived in China on his second visit in a year as the US ramps up pressure on its rival over its support for Russia while also seeking to manage tensions with Beijing. The US diplomat tomorrow is to meet China’s top brass in Beijing, where he is also expected to plead for restraint as Taiwan inaugurates president-elect William Lai (賴清德), and to raise US concerns on Chinese trade practices. However, Blinken is also seeking to stabilize ties, with tensions between the world’s two largest economies easing since his previous visit in June last year. At the
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese