French Foreign Affairs Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian
France doesn't rule out any sanction against Saudi Arabia if its authorities are found to have been involved in the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said on Wednesday.
France has called on Saudi Arabia to establish the truth about the case -- having already changed its story several times -- identify those behind the killing and punish them.
"So long as those who are responsibile and the circumstances around the killing are not made public, released and evaluated, we will go on demanding the truth," Le Drian told RTL radio. "So far we don't have it."
"We'll take the necessary measures against those who are responsible," Le Drian said, adding that France didn't rule out any sanctions against Saudi Arabia, which is a large buyer of French armaments, luxury products and many other exports.
The death of Khashoggi - a Washington Post columnist and a critic of Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman - has sparked global outrage and pitched the world's top oil exporter into a period of crisis.
Saudi Arabia's public prosecutor held talks overnight with Turkish intelligence officials over the investigation into the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, Demirören news agency said.It said Saud Al Mojeb left his hotel shortly after midnight and went to the Istanbul regional offices of Turkey's National Intelligence Agency (MIT). It did not say how long he stayed there before returning to his hotel.Khashoggi's death has escalated into a crisis for the world's top oil exporter, which at first denied any knowledge of, or role in, his disappearance four weeks ago.UN calls for impartial probe into Khashoggi’s killingLast week Mojeb contradicted previous Saudi statements, saying Khashoggi's killing was premeditated. Riyadh says it has arrested 18 suspects, including a team sent to Istanbul hours before Khashoggi's death, but has rejected Turkey's call for their extradition.President Tayyip Erdoğan, who has demanded more information from Saudi Arabia, said on Tuesday Istanbul's chief prosecutor had asked Mojeb to disclose who sent the team from Riyadh which is suspected of involvement in the killing.The killing of Khashoggi, a critic of de facto ruler Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, has put into focus the West's close relationship with Saudi Arabia - a major arms buyer and lynchpin of Washington's regional plans to contain Iran. Washington Post awaits answers on Khashoggi murder
Saudi prosecutor discusses Khashoggi case with Turkish intelligence
Khashoggi disappeared after entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on Oct. 2 and has not been seen since. His body has not been found. Saudi Arabia has admitted he was killed in what it described as a botched rendition attempt.
Western countries have grown increasingly critical of Saudi Arabia over the case, as well as Saudi's pursuit of its war in Yemen. Germany has said it will stop arm sales to Riyadh.
Le Drian said Germany acted too early. "I think we must wait for the investigation to find the culprits," he said.
He downplayed the importance of weapon sales to Saudi Arabia for the French economy, saying they represented only 7 percent of the France's overall weapon exports.
"We are not dependent on Saudi Arabia on that matter," he said.
Some universities and colleges in the U.S. are rethinking funding they receive from Saudi Arabia in light of the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, The Associated Press (AP) reported Tuesday.Through the decade, the Saudi government has funneled $354 million into 37 different schools across the U.S.The top two recipients, George Washington University and George Mason University, received a large portion through a Saudi scholarship program which sends students to study in the U.S. every year.The AP found at least $62 million came from grants and gifts given to schools by Saudi nationally-owned enterprises.Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Texas AM University both received millions of dollars from the state oil company, Saudi Aramco."Although some of the contracts halted before last year, questions surrounding Saudi writer Jamal Khashoggi’s death at the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul have spurred some schools to reconsider current or future deals," the AP wrote.Erdoğan says Turkish prosecutor asked Saudi counterpart who sent Khashoggi's killersMIT announced it would reassess its partnership with the kingdom because of the "grave concern" about Khashoggi, and told faculty work with the Saudis to “make their own determinations as to the best path forward.”Earlier this year, the oil company pledged $25 million to MIT for research on renewable energy and artificial intelligence, according to the AP.Khashoggi, a Saudi journalist and columnist for The Washington Post, went missing after entering the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul on Oct. 2.After weeks of denying any knowledge of his whereabouts, Saudi officials admitted that Khashoggi was killed in a fist fight inside the consulate building.Saudi prosecutor leaves consulate in Istanbul as Khashoggi probe continuesTurkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said 18 people arrested in Saudi Arabia for the killing should be extradited to Turkey to face trial, while Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir said the kingdom would try the suspects after an investigation is complete.Even after this, many schools are not considering a reassessment of Saudi funds, including George Mason University, University of California-Berkely, Northwestern University, and Tufts University.“Refusing payment would result in us denying an educational opportunity to otherwise qualified students. This would run counter to our mission of serving students,” George Mason spokesman Michael Sandler said in a statement.The Saudi scholarship fund was initially created in 2005 to create warmer relations with the U.S. after the Sept. 11 attacks."In some ways, the ties between American colleges and the kingdom were created to ease tensions between the nations," the AP wrote.Washington Post awaits answers on Khashoggi murder
US schools rethinking Saudi funding