Saudi Arabia has confirmed the death of dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi. Khashoggi and several people in the Istanbul Consulate had come to a deadly dispute, reported the Saudi state news agency Spa. There were already 18 people arrested, it was said.
In addition, a royal decree was quoted, according to which the Vice President of the Secret Service, Ahmad al-Assiri, had been dismissed. Saud al-Kahtani, a senior adviser to the king, was also released.
Only a few hours earlier, US President Donald Trump had announced new findings in the Khashoggi case in the coming days. "We'll know a lot in the next two or three days," he said at a gig in Scottsdale, Arizona. Sanctions against Saudi Arabia were not ruled out by the president. When asked, he said, "Could be, could be."
AP
Jamal Khashoggi
Khashoggi had wanted to pick up papers at the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul on October 2, and has since disappeared. According to media reports, the Turkish authorities have previously assumed that he was killed by a 15-member special squad traveling from Saudi Arabia.
Meanwhile, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu has announced that he has not yet shared alleged recordings of the regime critic's death with the US. However, Turkey will publish the results of the investigation into the case, Cavusoglu said. He did not name a specific time. It is also unclear what this could be (read more about the open questions in this case).
The Turkish Public Prosecutor's Office also invited employees of the Saudi consulate as witnesses. The state news agency Anadolu reported that it was 15 Turks, including a driver, an accountant and a consulate technician.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo visited both Riyadh and Ankara this week to inquire about the state of the investigation.