Murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi: new international reactions
The UN would investigate the case of killed Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi if Turkey requests. “We will wait to see whether we get a formal request from Turkey," UN spokesman Farhan Haq told reporters. "If we get something like that we will evaluate it and make a decision based on the request we received.” For any UN probe to be successful the international body would need the cooperation of all relevant parties, Haq added. Stephane Dujarric, spokesman for UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, said shortly after Saudi Arabia's announcement that the UN chief "is deeply troubled by the confirmation of the death of Jamal Khashoggi." Guterres "stresses the need for a prompt, thorough and transparent investigation into the circumstances of Mr. Khashoggi’s death and full accountability for those responsible," Guterres said.
The European Union’s reaction to the killing of Jamal Khashoggi will depend on the next steps that will be taken by the Saudi authorities, the EU foreign policy chief said on Tuesday. Speaking at the EU Parliament, Federica Mogherini said the EU has "asked Saudi Arabia to shed light on the events of Oct. 2 through a full, credible, transparent and prompt investigation"." We have also asked Saudi Arabia for full collaboration with the Turkish authorities. "We hope that everyone will work towards the goal of establishing the facts. This is the starting point," Mogherini said, adding that the investigation must be driven by the search for truth and not by geopolitics. Mogherini said the confirmation of Khashoggi's death was a first step towards the truth and towards accountability."But the explanations offered so far by the Saudi authorities leave many doubts and many questions unanswered.Recalling the Foreign Affairs Council last week, Mogherini said all 28 Foreign Ministers of the EU member states agreed to demand a credible and transparent investigation."We are working on further steps and statements to be taken together," she added.
European Council President Donald Tusk: The only European interest is to reveal all the details of the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, the EU Council president said on Wednesday. Addressing the European Parliament’s plenary session in the eastern French city of Strasbourg, Donald Tusk said the killing of Khashoggi is a "a horrible crime". "It is not my role to state who wants to protect whose interests here. But I know one thing: the only European interest is to reveal all the details of this case, regardless of who is behind it," Tusk said. “Even the slightest trace of hypocrisy would bring shame on us,” he added.
U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday ripped Saudi Arabia's effort to conceal the killing of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi. "They had a very bad original concept. It was carried out poorly, and the coverup was one of the worst in the history of coverups," Trump told reporters at the White House."Whoever thought of that idea I think is in big trouble, and they should be in big trouble." Trump said Erdoğan was "pretty rough on Saudi Arabia" during his comments, noting that the U.S. has intelligence officials in both Saudi Arabia and Turkey working on the Khashoggi case. CIA Director Gina Haspel is among them as she works to comb through the facts in Turkey."They are heading back. I will know, I think, everything in a very short period of time," Trump said. "It's a bad situation. But certainly President Erdoğan was not complimentary about what happened. That was a terrible thing that happened.
U.S. President Donald Trump said Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince bore ultimate responsibility for the operation that led to Jamal Khashoggi’s killing, and Turkish police were allowed to extend their probe at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. In his toughest comments yet, Trump told the Wall Street Journal he wanted to believe the prince when he said that lower level officials were to blame for the killing at the Saudi mission. But he suggested responsibility lay higher up: “Well, the prince is running things over there more so at this stage. He’s running things and so if anybody were going to be, it would be him.” Trump has previously appeared to take Saudi royal denials of involvement at face value, but on a day the state department announced it would revoked the visas of Saudi officials implicated in the writer’s death, sanctions on Wednesday matched by the UK, he appeared to give the benefit of the doubt to King Salman but not necessarily to his powerful son. His remarks to the Wall Street Journal came as the state department announced that 21 Saudi nationals would have their US visas revoked or be made ineligible for US visas over the journalist’s killing. The US visa revocations were the first punitive measures the Trump administration has taken against Saudi Arabia since Khashoggi disappeared.
Mike Pompeo, the US secretary of state, said other measures were being considered, including sanctions: “These penalties will not be the last word on the matter from the United States. “We’re making very clear that the United States does not tolerate this kind of ruthless action to silence Mr Khashoggi, a journalist, through violence,” Pompeo said. “Neither the president nor I am happy with this situation.”
Turkey's president Erdoğan insisted on Wednesday his country would not allow those responsible for Jamal Khashoggi's killing to avoid justice, keeping up pressure on Riyadh amid global scepticism over varying Saudi accounts of the prominent journalist's death. "We are determined not to allow a cover-up of this murder and to make sure all those responsible - from those who ordered it to those who carried it out - will not be allowed to avoid justice," Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said in a speech in Ankara. "We will continue to share new evidence transparently with our counterparts to enlighten the dark sides of this murder." On Tuesday Erdoğan urged Riyadh to search "from top to bottom" to uncover those behind the death of the veteran Saudi journalist in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.
Erdoğan adviser: Saudi prince has 'blood on his hands' over Khashoggi. An adviser to Turkey's leader said on Wednesday Saudi Arabia's crown prince had "blood on his hands" over Jamal Khashoggi's killing, the bluntest comments yet from someone linked to Tayyip Erdoğan about Riyadh's de facto ruler in connection with the death.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Monday called the killing a "monstrosity" and vowed to halt German arms exports to Riyadh until the case is cleared up. Intensive discussions are underway in the German government on how to deal with arms exports to Saudi Arabia that have already been approved but not yet delivered, government spokesman Steffen Seibert said on Wednesday. Asked whether this included arms exports that had already been approved but not yet delivered, Seibert told reporters: "Regarding the question of how to deal with permits already granted, or goods that have not yet been delivered, there are intensive discussions in the government on this at the moment, and we will have to examine this very carefully." Seibert said the review would be completed in the coming days, looking carefully at the arms sales from both a political and legal perspective. "We're not talking about weeks or months." German weapons account for under 2 percent of Saudi Arabia's arms purchases. A poll released Wednesday by Die Welt newspaper showed that 65 percent of Germans believed Germany should stop doing business with Saudi Arabia. The economics ministry said the government approved arms exports valued at 2.57 billion in the first half of the year, about 1 billion euros less than in the same period of 2017, but said a single large order could cause wide variations.
France will take appropriate measures if Saudi Arabia's guilt over the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi is clearly established, government spokesman Benjamin Griveaux told reporters on Wednesday. "As long as the facts have not been clearly established, and corroborated by our information services, we will not take any decision," said Griveaux. "But on the other hand, once light has been shed on the matter and has been corroborated by our services, based on the hypothesis that Saudi Arabia's responsibility has been proven, then we would draw the necessary conclusions and take actions," he said, adding that such a move would not solely involve limiting arms sales.
But French President Macron on Tuesday refused to take questions about halting arms sales. From 2008-17, Saudi Arabia was the second-biggest purchaser of French arms, with deals totalling more than 11 billion euros.
Britain will prevent all suspects in the death of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi from entering the country, Prime Minister Theresa May said, adding she would speak to Saudi Arabia's King Salman later on Wednesday. "There does remain an urgent need to establish exactly what has happened in relation to this ... I myself expect to speak to King Salman later today," May told parliament. "The Home Secretary is taking action against all suspects to prevent them entering the UK, and if these individuals currently have visas, those visas will be revoked today."
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said on Wednesday that Saudi Arabia would not have murdered prominent journalist Jamal Khashoggi without American protection. "No one would imagine that in today's world and a new century that we would witness such an organised murder and a system would plan out such a heinous murder," Rouhani said.
