Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister offered his condolences on Sunday to the family of a Washington Post columnist killed in the country’s consulate in Turkey almost three weeks ago, but offered no new information on how Jamal Khashoggi was killed or if the country’s crown prince, Mohammed bin-Salman, was involved.
Speaking during an exclusive interview with Fox News’ Bret Baier, Saudi Foreign Minister Adel Al-Jubeir said that the country is currently investigating Khashoggi’s death and that the 18 people implicated in his slaying would be punished appropriately.
Jubeir offered a timeline of their version of events, and said that the killing was a “huge and grave mistake.” He also said there were was an attempt to cover it up, and that they are trying to find Khashoggi‘s body or remains.
He put all the blame on the security team. “They told us [Khashoggi] left the consulate, came back to Saudi Arabia, filed a report to that effect,” he said. “The reports we were getting from Turkey did not comport with what the team has provided to us after they returned to Saudi Arabia.”
He said that after the King ordered an investigation, they “discovered there were discrepancies,” and “discovered he was killed in the consulate.”
“We don’t know in details how. We don’t know where the body is,” he said. When Baier asked again specifically about the body, Jubeir said they are “working on this.”
Baier asked him several times if they stand by the story that the crown prince knew nothing about the killing and each time the Minister defended the prince and said he was not aware.
“The individuals who did this did this outside the scope of their authority. There obviously was a tremendous mistake made and what compounded the mistake would be the attempt to try to cover up,” he said. “That is unacceptable in any government. These things unfortunately happened.”
“This an aberration, this is a mistake, this is a criminal act, and those responsible for it will be punished,” he insisted again.
“The Crown Prince was not aware of this,” he said. “This was an operation that was a rogue operation. This was an operation where individuals ended up exceeding the authorities and responsibilities they had. They made the mistake when they killed Jamal Khashoggi in the consulate and they tried to cover up for it.”
“Unfortunately, a huge and grave mistake was made and I assure them that those responsible will be held accountable for this,” he repeated later in the interview.
Dear USA,
Your 9/11 is our 24/7.
Sincerely,
Palestine.— جمال خاشقجي (@JKhashoggi) September 13, 2011
Read his tweets and articles in middle east outlets. His core issue with Saudia Arabia was Israel-related; not a fight for freedom/democracy: A) SA downgraded the Palestinian issue among Arab nations. B) SA wanting to normalize relations with Israel will come at expense of Iran. pic.twitter.com/QB66aZxlOY
— Yossi Gestetner (@YossiGestetner) October 18, 2018
(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)
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4 Responses
Big deal! The bloodthirsty got murdered! He was a vile Jew hater and he’s gone to where all the killers go! What’s the big deal!!! Turkey annihilated hundreds of thousands and the world is mum. Now the world is concerned because Erev Thanksgiving, the turkey popped up its head!
Why media is so obsessed with killing of terrorist jihadi sympathizer Khashoggi? Who nobody is interested anymore finding out who murder Setth Rich?
@moisheingulas:
The “FAKE NEWS MEDIA” is only interested in it since President Trump said that he won’t blow ties with MBS over the killing of this anti Semite terrorist So if Trump said one thing, FAKE NEWS to the rescue.
I don’t know if the attempts to besmirch Khashoggi’s name are warranted, but belittling a gruesome murder as a result just makes us less sensitive to murder and encourages despotic regimes that it’s okay to kill their enemies. These are two separate issues.
Same with other crimes committed by Turkey etc. Two wrongs don’t make one right. This murder got media attention because it was gruesome and planned by a supposedly reforming monarchy allied with the US, he was a journalist, the Turkish have proof, and yes they want to besmirch the Saudi’s. People also want to feel that this world is a safe place and not a “Hefker velt”, so they commiserate with him as he was killed when he just went to pick up papers at an embassy, which seems like a typical errand for most of us.
We shouldn’t try to put the cat back in the bag UNLESS THE TURKISH TURN OUT TO BE THE LIARS HERE. So far it’s the Saudi’s that are constantly changing their story.