Saudi Arabia says Khashoggi died at Istanbul consulate
The whereabouts of Jamal Khashoggi’s body has become a pressing question after Saudi Arabia admitted that the veteran journalist had died during a “brawl” at the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul.
“Where is the body of Jamal Khashoggi?” Syrian journalist Musa al-Omar asked.
“He should be buried in Al-Baqi’ [a cemetery in Madinah in western Saudi Arabia] as recommended."
Khashoggi, a Saudi journalist and columnist for The Washington Post, had gone missing since entering the consulate on Oct. 2.
After days of denying to know his whereabouts, Saudi Arabia on Saturday claimed Khashoggi was killed during a fight inside the consulate.
Roger Cohen, a columnist for The New York Times, scoffed at the Saudi explanation on the circumstances of Khashoggi's killing.
“Strangled in “a fistfight”?? 15 agents sent to “meet him”?? One of them with a saw??” Oh, and didn’t Khashoggi walk out the consulate 17 days ago?? He wondered.
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
“If [U.S. Secretary of State Mike] Pompeo was sent to Riyadh to cobble together a plausible story, well, mission failed,” he said.
On Tuesday, Pompeo visited Riyadh for talks with Saudi officials on Khashoggi’s disappearance.
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.
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
“Where is the body?”
Several Arab journalists raised the questions about the Saudi journalist’s body.
“He died as a result of a fistfight, where is the body of Jamal Khashoggi?" Lebanese journalist Najla Abu Mari asked.
Yemeni journalist Hamdi al-Bakari tweeted "Where is his body?"
Bahraini journalist Nazih Saeed also asked about Khashoggi’s body, saying the dismissal of officials was "not enough to achieve justice."
Yemeni activist Tawakkol Karman was sarcastic about the Saudi king’s decision to dismiss the deputy intelligence chief Ahmad Asiri and senior adviser Saud al-Qahtani over the case.
"We can understand your dismissal [King Salman] of them in this way: for their failure to oversee the assassination of Khashoggi without scandals,” she wrote on Twitter.
There was no comment from Saudi authorities on the allegation.
Emirati political analyst Abdul Khaliq Abdullah said on Twitter: "May Allah have mercy on the champion of freedom Khashoggi."
Oman welcomed on Sunday Saudi Arabia's decisions "on the regrettable incident" that led to the death of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, the state news agency ONA reported."The sultanate welcome decisions taken by the kingdom in this regard, insists on the importance to allow justice to take its course, away from any interpretation," ONA said, quoting a statement from the Gulf state's foreign ministry. Arab states hail Saudi explanation on Khashoggi killingGermany calls into question arms sales to Saudi over Khashoggi deathAmid scepticism, Saudi official provides another version of Khashoggi death‘Chokehold or strangulation’ caused death of KhashoggiMerkel demands full facts on Khashoggi’s killingNew Zealand will not attend Saudi investment summit over Khashoggi death
Oman welcomes Saudi decisions on 'regrettable' Khashoggi case
"This is a sad day for me, for his friends, family, the liberals of the world and for anyone who courageously dared to say the truth and fight the battle of freedom and pay costly for it," Abdullah said.
Egyptian academic Saif al-Din Abdul Fattah asked about the whereabouts of the Saudi journalist’s body.
"Why did the Saudi authorities deny more than once that Khashoggi was murdered? Where was the man's body?" he asked.
Egyptian political activist Wael Ghonim said on Twitter "the remembrance of Khashoggi’s martyrdom will live in the hearts and minds of many believers in humanity all over the world."
"I knew him a noble knight, loved his country and suffered so much from being away from his homeland,” he said, going on to call on Saudi Arabia to bring perpetrators and planners of the “brutal crime” to justice.
A host of Arab countries have welcomed a Saudi explanation on the circumstances of veteran journalist Jamal Khashoggi’s murder.Khashoggi, a Saudi journalist and 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 was killed during a fight inside the consulate.In a statement, Egypt’s Foreign Ministry said it “values the results of preliminary [Saudi] investigations in the case.""The decisions and actions taken by Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz are consistent with respect of the principles of law and application of justice,” it added.A similar praise came from the United Arab Emirates, which “hailed King Salman's directives and decisions," according to the official news agency.UK says any response over Khashoggi case would be 'considered'Saudi may blame adviser for Khashoggi killing: reportBahrain said decisions by the Saudi monarch came “to establish justice and equity and uncover the facts," Saudi Arabia’s Al-Ekhbariya TV channel said on Twitter.Palestine, for its part, said "Saudi Arabia, under the leadership of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, will remain the state of justice, values and principles."It hailed the Saudi decisions for “establishing justice, fairness, facts and law," according to the official Palestinian news agency Wafa.The Yemeni government said in a statement the findings of the Saudi probe “reflect the continuous and serious follow-up by the Saudi institutions,” according to the official Saba news agency.Trump says he believes Khashoggi is deadIstanbul forest being searched for Khashoggi bodyThe statement said Riyadh “has always reviewed any mistake that may occur from one of its institutions and work to address it immediately and take the necessary actions and bring perpetrators to accountability as what happened in this incident [the killing of Khashoggi]."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.
Arab states hail Saudi explanation on Khashoggi killing