German Chancellor Angela Merkel
German Chancellor Angela Merkel vowed again on Friday to halt all German arms exports to Saudi Arabia until the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi was explained.
"It is necessary to clarify the background of this horrible incident," she said in Prague during a news conference with Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis. "And if that does not happen, we will not deliver any arms to Saudia Arabia."
The fiancee of slain Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, Hatice Cengiz, on Friday said that the journalist was "worried" before he entered the Consulate of Saudi Arabia on Oct. 2.She told Turkish broadcaster Habertürk that Khashoggi had mentioned there could be some issues with him going to the consulate.He assumed Saudi authorities would not interrogate or arrest him in Turkey, although he was concerned tensions would arise when he visited the consulate in Istanbul, added Cengiz.Merkel says no arms to Saudi Arabia until Khashoggi killing explainedShe said that she did not accept U.S. President Donald Trump's invitation to visit the White House because she thought it was aimed at influencing public opinion in his favour.She added that she would not go to the White House until the United States was sincere in its efforts to solve Khashoggi's killing, demanding that all those responsible be tried and punished.Khashoggi had said he was treated well during his first visit to the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on Sept. 28, his fiancee Cengiz said.Austria calls on EU to halt arms sales to Saudi ArabiaShe added that Khashoggi did not tell her to call anyone in case anything happened to him during his second visit on Oct. 2 but that he had previously told her to contact Yasin Aktay, an adviser of Turkish President Tayyip Erdoğan, if he faced any trouble in Turkey. Khashoggi was a U.S. resident who wrote columns for the Washington Post and a critic of the Saudi government, calling for reforms.Turkish officials suspect Saudi security agents killed Khashoggi, 59, inside the consulate and dismembered his body. Turkish sources say authorities have an audio recording purportedly documenting the murder.Saudi Arabia’s public prosecutor said on Thursday the killing of Khashoggi, a Washington Post columnist, was premeditated, reversing a previous official statement that it happened accidentally during a tussle in the consulate.Iran MP calls for ‘trying’ Riyadh over Khashoggi murderTurkey takes statements of 38 Saudi Consulate employeesTurkey only allowed to take water sample from well at Saudi consulateSaudi crown prince presides over committee to restructure intel agencyKhashoggi affair ‘won’t drive wedge’ between Saudi, Turkey
Khashoggi's fiancee says journalist was 'worried' before entering Saudi consulate
An Iranian member of parliament has called for “trying” Saudi Arabia in an international court for its alleged role in the Oct. 2 murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in Istanbul, according to the Iranian Students News Agency (ISNA).“Saudi Arabia has shown its true face with the killing of this journalist and political activist,” ISNA quoted Alaeddin Boroujerdi, a member of parliament’s foreign relations committee, as saying.Boroujerdi described Khashoggi’s death -- exact circumstances of which remain unknown -- as “a scandal of historic proportions”.The lawmaker went on to assert that the Saudi leadership should be tried before an international tribunal for its alleged role in the murder.Kremlin says no reason to doubt Saudi statements on Khashoggi murderCall by Khashoggi’s fiancée caused Saudi hit squad to panic, dump journo’s remains in wellA columnist for the Washington Post, Khashoggi was last seen on Oct. 2 when he entered the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul.After days of denying any knowledge of his whereabouts, Saudi officials last week admitted that Khashoggi had died inside the consulate building.In hopes of defusing the international furor over the journalist’s demise, Saudi King Salman sacked the deputy head of the Saudi intelligence agency (and a top aide), while also ordering the arrest of 18 individuals suspected of involvement in the case.On Sunday, Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir admitted that Khashoggi was killed inside the consulate, but insisted that Mohamed bin Salman -- Saudi Arabia’s high-profile crown prince -- had been unaware of it.Erdoğan asks Saudi Arabia to reveal whereabouts of Khashoggi's bodyWashington Post starts Khashoggi truth ad campaign
Iran MP calls for ‘trying’ Riyadh over Khashoggi murder
The foreign ministers of Turkey and Saudi Arabia on Friday discussed the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in a phone call, according to Turkish diplomatic sources.Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu and his counterpart Adel al-Jubeir exchanged views on the clearing up the case of Khashoggi, said the sources who spoke on condition of anonymity due to restrictions on talking to the media.The top diplomats also discussed bilateral ties, the sources added.Iran MP calls for ‘trying’ Riyadh over Khashoggi murderSaudi-born Khashoggi, a columnist for The Washington Post, went missing after entering the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul on Oct. 2.On Thursday, the Saudis appeared to inch closer to Turkey’s initial findings in the investigation when the kingdom’s public prosecutor said evidence provided by Turkey indicated the killing was planned in advance.Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Friday said that Saudi Arabia will send a chief prosecutor to Turkey regarding the case.Norway wealth fund plans to double Saudi investmentsKremlin says no reason to doubt Saudi statements on Khashoggi murderCall by Khashoggi’s fiancée caused Saudi hit squad to panic, dump journo’s remains in well
Turkish FM discusses Khashoggi case with Saudi counterpart
Claims are circulating that the body of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, who was killed at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on Oct. 2, could possibly have been dumped in the well at the residence of the Saudi consul-general.Police say Khashoggi was killed and dismembered within two hours, and taken from the Saudi consulate in suitcases and plastic bags. His DNA was found in a Vito minibus that traveled from the consulate to the consul-general’s residence, a distance of 300 meters.Investigators believe that there is a high chance Khashoggi’s remains are still in Istanbul. Allegations that the 15-man hit squad panicked once they found out that Khashoggi’s fiancée, Hatice Cengiz, was waiting for the Saudi journalist outside the consulate have surfaced.Saudi van with 3 suitcases leaves Istanbul consulateA 15-man hit team, many of them Saudi intelligence operatives, flew into Istanbul hours before Khashoggi’s death and entered the consulate on Oct. 2 while the journalist was inside.Khashoggi was a U.S. resident who wrote columns for the Washington Post and he was critical of the Saudi government, calling for reforms.Khashoggi murdered, dismembered in two hoursSecurity sources believe once Khashoggi entered the Saudi consulate at 13:14 local time, there was a high level of activity inside and outside of the building. A black Vito with the number plate 34 CC 1865 neared the consulate gate at 15:08 local time, and camera footage shows suitcases and black plastic bags being loaded into the vehicle before it traveled to the consul-general’s residence.Washington Post starts Khashoggi truth ad campaignMurdered in the consul-general’s officeOnce Khashoggi entered the consulate, he was allegedly invited to the Consul General Mohammad al-Otaibi’s office, where he was choked to death. His body was dragged to the conference room behind the consul general’s office. Khashoggi’s body was tehn allegedly divided into three pieces, and his head, chest and legs were put into a suitcase. Salah al-Tubaigy, a forensic doctor and reported autopsy expert, was the one who dismembered the body. He then proceeded to clean the conference room.Khashoggi remains may be hidden in wellTurkish teams searched the consulate on Oct. 18, and the 12-meter-deep well is now being evaluated as the dumping site of Khashoggi’s body. Turkish security forces were not allowed to search the garden and well in Saudi Arabia’s consulate in Istanbul, however, water samples were taken.Khashoggi's son arrives in US after travel ban liftedHatice Cengiz foiled Saudi planNoting that the remains could be protected by waterproof chemicals, the prosecution office demanded that the water in the well be emptied and the bottom searched. It is believed that the presence of Hatice Cengiz foiled the plot to bury the body in Istanbul’s Belgrad Forest when she called the consulate security demanding to know the whereabouts of Jamal.Cengiz called the consulate at 17:30 local time and said that her fiancée had entered but not reemerged. When asked where she was, Cengiz told the consulate worker that she was outside. A Saudi official then emerged and told her all rooms had been searched but Khashoggi was not inside. Following this, the 15-member Saudi squad that had made reservations for five days at two hotels returned to Riyadh.Within the scope of the investigation, the police searched 26 different vehicles as well as the consul-general’s residence. Following a tipoff, police found a diplomatic vehicle belonging to the Saudi consulate in a carpark in Istanbul’s Sultangazi district. A laptop and documents were found in the vehicle which was not on the original search list.Russia’s Putin, Saudi king discuss Khashoggi issueOn the day of the murder, it was found that the security cameras Saudi authorities had claimed were not working were actually switched off one hour before the murder time. The audio recording of the last minutes of Khashoggi’s life is allegedly the hands of Turkey’s national intelligence organization, MİT.Khashoggi body double spotted out and about in IstanbulAs part of the probe launched by the Chief Public Prosecutors' Office in Istanbul, a special security team went through 3,500 hour-long footages from a total of 137 surveillance cameras at 72 points.Moustafa al-Madani, who led the intelligence efforts of the 15-man team in Istanbul, entered the consulate building by the front door four hours earlier together with Saudi's forensic medicine chief Salah al-Tubaiqi. Following the murder, Madani donned Khashoggi’s clothes, eyeglasses and Apple watch and left through the back door of the consulate in an attempt to make it look like the journalist had walked out of the building, although he was wearing different shoes to the ones Khashoggi entered the consulate with. He is seen in Khashoggi's clothing near the city's Blue Mosque in the Sultanahmet district hours after the journalist was seen entering the consulate building.Madani is a government employee who studied at King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals in Saudi Arabia’s Eastern Province, according to a Facebook profile with photographs resembling the suspect identified by Turkish media.US actress rejects funding for film from Saudi princeGermany's EconMin welcomes proposal for joint EU position toward Saudi
Call by Khashoggi’s fiancée caused Saudi hit squad to panic, dump journo’s remains in well