United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet
United Nations (UN) called for an independent and impartial investigation into the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi on Tuesday.
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet said that international experts should be involved to investigate the Khashoggi murder and urged Saudi authorities to reveal the whereabouts of Khashoggi's body without any delay.
In a statement, Bachelet described the Khashoggi murder as “shockingly brazen crime.”
"For an investigation to be carried out free of any appearance of political considerations, the involvement of international experts, with full access to evidence and witnesses, would be highly desirable," she said.
"Forensic examination, including an autopsy on the body of the victim is a crucial element in any investigation into a killing, and I urge the Saudi authorities to reveal the whereabouts of his body without further delay or prevarication," she added.
Britain's foreign secretary said on Tuesday he had no previous knowledge of a Saudi plot against journalist Jamal Khashoggi, who was killed at the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul on Oct. 2.Declining to respond to weekend claims by a British tabloid that British intelligence services knew there was a plot to abduct Khashoggi, saying he “would not talk about intelligence matters,” Jeremy Hunt nevertheless said he was not made aware of any knowledge about such a plot.The Sunday Express claimed that a British intelligence source told them the U.K.’s intelligence services “were initially made aware that something was going in the first week of September, around three weeks before Mr Khashoggi walked into the consulate on October 2, though it took more time for other details to emerge."Saudi Arabia executed Indonesian worker: Rights groupHunt’s remarks came at a question session at the House of Commons where British Foreign Office ministers took lawmakers’ queries.The tabloid reported that the details British intelligence knew “included primary orders to capture Mr Khashoggi and bring him back to Saudi Arabia for questioning.”“However, the door seemed to be left open for alternative remedies to what was seen as a big problem,” the source told the tabloid, based on information from the British Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ), the source told the paper.It further quoted the source as saying that the intelligence services “know the orders came from a member of the royal circle but have no direct information to link them to Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman.”Erdoğan says Turkish prosecutor asked Saudi counterpart who sent Khashoggi's killersThe Sunday Express article also claimed that the unnamed source confirmed that MI6 -- British Secret Intelligence Service -- had warned its Saudi counterparts to cancel the mission but this request was ignored.“On October 1 we became aware of the movement of a group, which included members of Ri'asat Al-Istikhbarat Al-Amah (GID) [Saudi intelligence] to Istanbul, and it was pretty clear what their aim was,” the intelligence source told the tabloid.“Through channels we warned that this was not a good idea. Subsequent events show that our warning was ignored.”After weeks of denying any knowledge of his whereabouts, Saudi officials admitted that Khashoggi had been killed inside the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul.The Washington Post reported earlier, based on U.S. intelligence intercepts, that Crown Prince Salman had ordered an operation to lure the journalist back to Saudi Arabia.'Jamal Khashoggi deserves a dignified burial'Intelligence“If the allegations in this weekend’s report are true, they are extremely serious,” Labour’s shadow Foreign Secretary Emily Thornberry said, following up the question about Khashoggi.“It was reported in early September that our intelligence services became aware of the Saudi plan to abduct Jamal Khashoggi and on October 1 they knew that a Saudi team had been dispatched to Istanbul for that purpose,” she said.“Now, here, the foreign secretary says that he did not know. But did the intelligence services know and has he asked them?” she queried Hunt.Hunt said: “It is not possible for a foreign secretary or indeed any minister to comment on intelligence matters, for very obvious reasons.”Turkey denies top Saudi prosecutor’s request for whole Khashoggi file: report“But, I did not know about this attack,” he repeated.“We are as shocked as anyone else is about what happened,” he added.Thornberry said the allegations are “very serious,” adding that “it won’t do to hide behind a blanket refusal to discuss intelligence matters.”She questioned whether the foreign secretary would accept an invitation to a closed-door emergency session to discuss the matter with the Intelligence Security Commission.Hunt said he would accept such an invitation but added that the desire for him to reveal very important intelligence is “inappropriate.”- Saudi human rights“Saudi Arabia is a human rights country of concern for the Foreign Office. We have our regular discussions with them about our concerns,” Hunt also said during the session at parliament.Asked by Conservative MO Sir Desmond Swayne whether there are regrets over seeking the election of Saudi Arabia to the UN Human Rights Council, Hunt said: “There are all sorts of issues with respect to Saudi Arabia’s human rights record that are in sharp relief at the moment."He added: “But … I have spoken more clearly than any Western foreign minister that if the Khashoggi stories turn out to be true, that would be inconsistent with our values.”
UK foreign secretary: I was unaware of Khashoggi plot
Bachelet said she is pleased with the Turkish and Saudi authorities' efforts in investigating the murder.
"I welcome the steps taken by Turkish and Saudi authorities to investigate and prosecute the alleged perpetrators of Mr. Khashoggi’s murder," Bachelet stated.
"But given the information that high-level officials in Saudi Arabia were apparently involved, and it took place in the Consulate of Saudi Arabia, the bar must be set very high to ensure meaningful accountability and justice for such a shockingly brazen crime against a journalist and Government critic," she remarked.
Bachelet added that the full truth must be uncovered and offenders should pay the price.
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, on Oct. 20 Saudi officials admitted that the journalist had died inside the consulate building.
The Turkish prosecutor looking into the death of Jamal Khashoggi has asked Saudi Arabia's prosecutor to say who sent the team involved in the journalist's killing, President Tayyip Erdoğan said on Tuesday.Speaking to reporters in parliament, Erdoğan said the Turkish prosecutor had told his Saudi counterpart that the 18 suspects in the case could be tried in Turkey. Saudi officials also needed to reveal the identity of a local cooperator said to have been involved in Khashoggi's disappearance, he said.Saudi Arabia's Chief Prosecutor Saud Al Mojeb on Tuesday arrived at the Consulate of Saudi Arabia in Istanbul as part of probe into slain journalist Jamal Khashoggi.'Jamal Khashoggi deserves a dignified burial'He had previously visited his Turkish counterpart at the Çağlayan Courthouse.Khashoggi, a Washington Post columnist and a critic of Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, was killed inside the Consulate of Saudi Arabia in Istanbul after he went there to obtain documents for his forthcoming marriage.After denying any involvement in the disappearance of Khashoggi, 59, for two weeks, Saudi Arabia on Oct. 20 acknowledged his death, saying he had died in a fistfight.Since then, Saudi Arabia’s public prosecutor said Khashoggi’s killing was premeditated, contradicting the previous official statement that it happened accidentally during a tussle in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.Turkey denies top Saudi prosecutor’s request for whole Khashoggi file: reportKhashoggi fiancee says Riyadh behind his murder, criticises Trump response"Turkey will destroy terror structures in east of Euphrates"He also said that Turkey will destroy terror structures in the east of the Euphrates River in Syria, adding that the intervention there had begun and more extensive operations will be launched soon."We will walk over terror groups with more effective operations."The Turkish Armed Forces (TAF) on Sunday bombed positions belonging to terrorists of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK)’s Syrian affiliate, the YPG, on the eastern shore of the Euphrates River in Syria.Artillery shells were fired at the YPG-occupied Zour Magyar to the west of northern Syria's Ayn al-Arab region and was aimed at preventing terrorist activities.Russia-Turkey forum to be held in AntalyaHe said that Turkey would bring down all terror nests on the eastern side of Euphrates. "We have finished all our preparations, plans, program regarding the issue," he added.He said that Turkey cannot "look to the future with confidence without solving the Syrian issue".Syria has only just begun to emerge from a devastating conflict that began in 2011 when the Assad regime cracked down on demonstrators with unexpected ferocity.The powers using terror groups as tools to reach their goals are trying to revive Daesh in Syria, Erdoğan warned.Turkey says Idlib deal going as planned, no issue in implementation But, he said, Turkey would never allow them to drag Syria into chaos and bloodshed by inciting the regime or reviving Daesh in the region."Neither people in the region nor the world believe in the Daesh game," said Erdoğan.More than 300 people lost their lives in Daesh-claimed attacks in Turkey, where the terror organization has targeted civilians in suicide bomb, rocket, and gun attacks in recent years.
Erdoğan says Turkish prosecutor asked Saudi counterpart who sent Khashoggi's killers