Sunday, 24 Nov 2024

Turkey not satisfied by Saudi prosecutor comments on Khashoggi: minister

ANKARA (Reuters) – Turkey is not satisfied with remarks from Saudi Arabia’s public prosecutor on the murder of Jamal Khashoggi, Ankara’s foreign minister said on Thursday, adding the journalist was targeted in a premeditated killing.

Khashoggi, a U.S. resident and a Washington Post columnist, was killed in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on Oct. 2, sparking global outrage against the kingdom and its de facto ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

Riyadh had offered numerous contradictory explanations for his disappearance, before saying Khashoggi was killed after “negotiations” to convince him to return to the kingdom failed. On Thursday, the public prosecutor’s office said he was killed after a struggle by a lethal injection and his body dismembered and taken out of the building.

“I don’t find some comments satisfying. They say this person was killed because he resisted, whereas this murder was premeditated,” Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu told reporters.

“Again, they say he was dismembered… but this isn’t a spontaneous thing. The necessary equipment and people were previously brought in to kill and later dismember him.”

President Tayyip Erdogan has said the killing was ordered at the “highest levels” of the Saudi government.

Cavusoglu also reiterated Turkey’s call for Riyadh to disclose the location of Khashoggi’s remains.

“Where is the body of the murdered Khashoggi? Where was it thrown, where was it burned?” Cavusoglu said. He did not say whether Turkey had evidence that pointed to the body having been burned. Turkey has previously called for an investigation into reports the body was dissolved in acid.

Cavusoglu also repeated Erdogan’s call that the suspects in the case should be tried in Turkey, not Saudi Arabia.

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