After weeks of denying any involvement in the crime, Saudi Arabia later admitted that Khashoggi had been killed inside the consulate but claimed the Saudi royal family had no prior knowledge of any plot to murder the journalist.
The murder of Jamal Khashoggi inside the Saudi consulate in Turkey’s Istanbul has thrust an unwavering spotlight on Riyadh and top Saudi officials close to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
As Turkey keeps pushing for the truth in the case of Khashoggi’s murder, Saudis have taken to social media. Hashtags laced with anti-Turkey sentiment even became a trending topic on Twitter on Sunday evening.
Two hashtags in particular calling for boycotting tourism in Turkey and professing love for Crown Prince bin Salman were trending in the Kingdom.
A closer look at some of the users behind the campaigns reveals that a large number of accounts taking part in these campaigns appear to be run by bots with photos of bin Salman used as profile pictures.
One tweet accompanied by a photo says, “Not taking a stance is betrayal” and another reads, “How can we respect those that don’t respect our leaders? Will they show us respect if we go to them?”
#مقاطعه_السياحه_التركيه
من لا يحترم قادتنا وبلادنا ومقدساتنا
كيف يحترمنا اذا ذهبنا لهم pic.twitter.com/x8Cc4rFJ6j
A different Twitter user tweeted a photo of a crossed-out Turkish flag, calling the boycott of Turkish goods “a national duty.”
عداوة تركيا للسعودية اشبه بعداوة الشيطان لابن ادم، عداوة يغذيها الحسد والحقد، والسعودي الغيور على بلدة يجب علية مقاطعة تركيا في كل شئ هذا واجب وطني #مقاطعه_السياحه_التركيه pic.twitter.com/8sLBvDsfAs
Saudi journalist Khashoggi was killed inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on Oct. 2, and Turkey has provided the U.S. as well as other countries with a recording of the murder.
After weeks of denying any involvement in the crime, Saudi Arabia later admitted that Khashoggi had been killed inside the consulate but claimed the Saudi royal family had no prior knowledge of any plot to murder the journalist.
According to reports, Turkish investigators found traces of "hydrofluoric acid and other chemicals" inside a well at the Saudi consul general's home in Istanbul, suggesting Khashoggi’s body was dissolved in acid and other chemicals.
Germany on Monday imposed a travel ban on 18 Saudi citizens over their suspected involvement in the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.“These individuals are the members of a 15-man team and three others suspected of taking part in this plan,” Christofer Burger, deputy spokesman for the Foreign Ministry, told a news conference in Berlin.He said the decision was taken in close coordination with two other EU partners -- the U.K. and France.Saudi king makes no mention of Khashoggi case in first public comment since murderAsked whether Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman was among the first group of people receiving sanctions, Burger declined to make any comments on the matter.The Washington Post reported last week that the CIA had concluded the Khashoggi’s murder was ordered by the Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.Khashoggi, a Saudi journalist working for The Washington Post, was killed shortly after he entered the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul Oct. 2.Saudi trolls take action as Ankara presses forward in Khashoggi caseSaudi Arabia had offered shifting explanations for Khashoggi's disappearance before suggesting he was killed during a botched rendition operation by rogue agents.So far, 21 people, including security officers, have been arrested in Saudi Arabia in connection with the murder.'Hariri's govt seeks to deliver Lebanon to Saudi Arabia'Trump wants Saudi Arabia as an ally despite 'vicious' Khashoggi murder
Germany imposes travel bans on 18 Saudis over Khashoggi killing
On Thursday, Saudi Arabia’s chief prosecutor’s office announced it had charged 11 out of 21 suspects in relation to the murder, seeking the death penalty for five of the suspects.
The CIA believes Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman ordered the killing of Khashoggi, sources familiar with the matter said on Friday, complicating President Donald Trump's efforts to preserve ties with a key U.S. ally.
The sources said the CIA had briefed other parts of the U.S. government, including Congress, on its assessment, which contradicts Saudi government assertions that Prince Mohammed was not involved.
A French journalist said the killing of Jamal Khashoggi “embarrassed” France and there was no doubt that Turkey had shared information and recordings regarding the murder with his country.“This incident embarrassed France,” Jean-Dominique Merchet, working for French daily L’Opinion, told Anadolu Agency, and added that Saudi Arabia was a strategic ally of his country.“There is no doubt that Turkey gave information to France. Remarks of Canada’s Prime Minister [Justin Trudeau] stating that he listened to the recordings is proof that the information reached France as well,” said Merchet.Merchet said that motive behind French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian’s remarks was to maintain good relations with Saudi Arabia.Last week, Le Drian claimed that his country does not have the recordings, following Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s remarks stating that Ankara had shared recordings related to the Khashoggi killing with some countries including France."The French foreign minister went too far, and he has to know how to talk to a president," said Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, accusing Le Drian of not telling the truth."It is clear that the Khashoggi murder has weakened [Saudi Crown Prince] Mohammed bin Salman and his image in the international community has been damaged,” Merchet said, adding that Saudis were not aware of how serious the issue was.Merchet said that in order to make progress on the Khashoggi case and Yemen issues, everyone should have the same opinion in Europe.Khashoggi, a Saudi journalist working for The Washington Post, was killed shortly after he entered the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul Oct. 2.Saudi Arabia had offered shifting explanations for Khashoggi's disappearance before suggesting he was killed during a botched rendition operation by rogue agents.
Khashoggi killing embarrassed France: French journalist
U.S. President Donald Trump said in an interview that aired on Sunday the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi was "very vicious" but that he wants to stick with Saudi Arabia as a close ally in the Middle East.Under pressure to punish Saudi Arabia for Khashoggi's death inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on Oct. 2, Trump questioned the alleged role of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who is known as MbS and is the kingdom's de facto ruler."He told me that he had nothing to do with it," Trump said in an interview with "Fox News Sunday", adding that "many people" also said the crown prince had no knowledge of the killing.The interview was taped on Friday, hours before government sources said the CIA had briefed the Trump administration on the murder and its belief that MbS ordered it.Trump said on Saturday that the CIA assessment was "very premature" and in the interview that aired on Sunday he said it may never be possible to know who ordered Khashoggi's murder.US president refuses to hear Khashoggi death tape"Well, will anybody really know?" he said."He did have certainly people that were reasonably close to him and close to him that were probably involved ... But at the same time we do have an ally and I want to stick with an ally that in many ways has been very good."Trump faces intense pressure from senior Democratic and Republican lawmakers to take tougher action against Saudi Arabia. Some have said the United States should suspend arms sales to the kingdom and drop his support for MbS, but Trump has so far resisted that pressure.Egyptian woman comes forward as Khashoggi’s secret wifeDahlan ‘cover-up team’ from Lebanon helps hide traces of Khashoggi murderThe U.S. government on Thursday imposed economic sanctions on 17 Saudi officials for their alleged role in the killing, but the sanctions did not target the Saudi government.Saudi Arabia is a major oil supplier and a close ally of the United States in countering Iranian power in the Middle East.Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, a close ally of Trump, said on Sunday he had no doubt about MbS' involvement in ordering the murder of Khashoggi."They are an important ally but when it comes to the crown prince, he's irrational, he's unhinged and I think he's done a lot of damage to the relationship (between) the United States and Saudi Arabia. And I have no intention of working with him ever again," he said on NBC's "Meet the Press."Trump said his administration has a taped recording related to the Khashoggi murder, provided by the Turkish government, but that he has not listened to it and does not want to."I know everything that went on in the tape without having to hear it," he said. "It was very violent, very vicious and terrible."
Trump wants Saudi Arabia as an ally despite 'vicious' Khashoggi murder
The Trump administration is helping Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who is “brazenly seeking to lie his way out of accountability” for the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul, according to the Washington Post.In an unsigned editorial posted late Saturday, the paper’s editorial board wrote: “On Thursday, a state prosecutor in Riyadh advanced an account of the killing blatantly at odds with established facts, excusing the crown prince from all blame.“Rather than reject this contemptible cover-up, President Trump, who had pledged to ‘get to the bottom’ of the case, went along with it.”The editorial said the U.S. Treasury Department “imposed sanctions on 17 mostly low-level suspects already implicated by the Saudis, while excusing both Mohammed bin Salman and top intelligence officials.”“Now we learn that Mr. Trump backed the Saudi leader despite a conclusion by the CIA that the prince was, in fact, responsible for ordering Khashoggi’s assassination,” it added, referring to a leaked intelligence assessment reported last week by the Post.The Post reported that intelligence officials have “high confidence” in their assessment and have briefed the president on their evidence, which includes an audio recording of the killing and phone calls by the leader of the “kill team” as well as the Saudi ambassador in Washington.“Mr. Trump nevertheless has refused to accept Mohammed bin Salman’s responsibility, perhaps because that would mean acknowledging that the White House’s outsize bet on the 33-year-old prince as a strategic ally was badly mistaken.”Saudi Arabia defies US pressure to end Qatar row after Khashoggi killingA number of legislators from both parties have spoken up in rejection of the Saudi cover-up and the administration’s response, the article said.“Three Republican senators — Lindsay O. Graham (S.C.), Todd C. Young (Ind.) and Susan Collins (Maine) — have joined three Democrats, including Robert Menendez (N.J.), the ranking minority member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, to back legislation that would require the administration to sanction within 30 days ‘any official of the government of Saudi Arabia or member of the royal family’ tied to the Khashoggi murder by ‘credible evidence.’“Given the CIA conclusion, that would cover Mohammed bin Salman. The bill would also suspend most U.S. arms sales and deliveries to Saudi Arabia until it ‘honored a complete cessation of hostilities in the Yemen war’ and stopped interfering with deliveries of humanitarian aid.”Saudi account of Khashoggi killing 'unsatisfying'New York Times posts video on slain Saudi journalistThe Post wrote that Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Corker is “giving Mr. Trump a chance to tell the truth about Mohammed bin Salman and adjust his policies accordingly, a correction that is essential to a rational and workable U.S. strategy in the Middle East.”"If the White House instead continues to abet the crown prince in his lies," the Post said Congress must act “swiftly and decisively.”Khashoggi, a Saudi journalist working for The Washington Post, was killed shortly after he entered the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul Oct. 2.Saudi Arabia had offered shifting explanations for Khashoggi's disappearance before suggesting he was killed during a botched rendition operation by rogue agents.
Washington Post says Trump is defending bin Salman’s 'lies'