French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire
French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said Saudi Arabia's admission that dissident Jamal Khashoggi was killed at its Istanbul consulate was welcome "progress", but urged the kingdom to follow through with a full and transparent investigation.
"I note that the Saudi authorities have changed tack, admitted the facts and accepted some responsibility, so we're making progress," Le Maire said on France 3 television on Sunday. "But full light needs to be shed."
How bilateral relations develop from here will "depend on the way the truth is aired, the investigation conducted and the results established," Le Maire said.
Kuwait has welcomed the decisions taken by Saudi Arabia's King Salman with regards to the death of critic Jamal Khashoggi, a foreign ministry source told Kuna on Sunday.The source said the king's handling of the case "depicts the Kingdom's keenness and commitment to establish the truth and its respect for legal principles to bring to account those behind this regretful event."Saudi Arabia said on Saturday that Khashoggi, a prominent journalist and critic of the kingdom's de facto leader Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, died in a fight inside its Istanbul consulate - after two weeks of denials that it was involved in his disappearance. Saudi explanation of Khashoggi death not credible: British ministerKhashoggi saw Turkey as key country in new Middle EastOman welcomes Saudi decisions on 'regrettable' Khashoggi caseArab states hail Saudi explanation on Khashoggi killingGermany calls into question arms sales to Saudi over Khashoggi death
Kuwait welcomes decisions by Saudi king on 'regretful' Khashoggi case
Saudi Arabia's explanation of the death of journalist Jamal Khashoggi at its consulate in Istanbul is not credible, Britain's Brexit minister Dominic Raab said on Sunday.After denying any involvement in the disappearance of Khashoggi, 59, for two weeks, Saudi Arabia on Saturday morning said he had died in a fistfight at the consulate. An hour later, another Saudi official attributed the death to a chokehold.Asked during an interview on BBC TV if he believed the explanation, Raab said: "No, I don’t think it is credible ... We support the Turkish investigation into it and the British government will want to see people held to account for that death."Khashoggi saw Turkey as key country in new Middle EastUK Brexit minister Raab says open-minded on extending post-Brexit transition
Saudi explanation of Khashoggi death not credible: British minister
Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi who was killed in the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul regarded Turkey as a key country for a new Middle East, his friends told AP in an interview.Sarah El Deeb, an AP journalist based in Lebanon, talked to some of his friends."Friends say Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi was a proud Arab who wanted to set up a base in his ancestral homeland of Turkey, contributing to the growing community of exiled Arabs who have taken refuge there," she said in the article."For Khashoggi, a history lover, the growing Arabic community and Turkey’s power in the region echoed aspects of the Ottoman empire, when Istanbul was at the center of a rich and multicultural Middle East."Kashoggi was planning to marry his Turkish fiancee on Oct. 3, had bought a home in Istanbul and was planning to split his time between Istanbul and the U.S. state of Virginia, the article says.We want justice for Jamal Khashoggi, says head of Turkish-Arab Media AssociationAmnesty urges UN investigation, independent autopsy in Khashoggi deathBahrain praises Saudi king's decisions: Al Arabiya TVEiad Alhaji, a Syrian filmmaker and friend of Khashoggi, said: "We used to go together to sit and talk, two strangers outside our country and society, about what is happening with the Arabs in Turkey and in America. Me as a Syrian, and him as a Saudi Arabian." Another friend Fatih Oke stated that he and Khashoggi had plans to do some projects.The article said that in his last interviews Khashoggi declared his support for Turkey’s Syria policy but criticized Saudi government's stance on it.Azzam Tamimi, a British-Palestinian, said that Khashoggi had found a warm place in Istanbul."Khashoggi found a welcoming place in Istanbul. In Istanbul you don’t feel like a stranger, the people, the food, the habits,” Tamimi said.Investigators likely to discover what happened to Khashoggi body 'before long'Turkey vows to reveal details of Khashoggi's killingEgypt commends 'decisive' and 'brave' actions by Saudi King over Khashoggi case"Also, Turkey’s current political authority has been the closest to Arabs since the fall of the Ottoman Empire a hundred years ago. Erdogan and his party opened up to the Arabs," Tamimi added.Khashoggi, a columnist for The Washington Post, had gone missing since entering the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul on Oct. 2.After days of denying to know his whereabouts, Saudi Arabia on Saturday claimed Khashoggi died during a fight inside the consulate.On the day of Khashoggi’s disappearance, 15 other Saudis, including several officials, arrived in Istanbul on two planes and visited the consulate while he was still inside, according to Turkish police sources. All of the identified individuals have since left Turkey.A joint Turkish-Saudi team completed an investigation into the case on Thursday after searching the residence of the consul general as well as the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul.UNESCO chief condemns killing of KhashoggiUS congressman says Jared Kushner may have organized Khashoggi murderYemen praises Saudi decisions on journalist's death
Khashoggi saw Turkey as key country in new Middle East