ANSD : Mattis calls for transparent Khashoggi probe

SAT 23 - 11 - 2024

Date: Oct 29, 2018
Source: The Daily Star

Mattis calls for transparent Khashoggi probe

Saudi public prosecutor meets Istanbul chief prosecutor

_Reuters
ISTANBUL: The Saudi public prosecutor heading the investigation into the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi met Istanbul's chief prosecutor Monday, state-owned Anadolu news agency said.

Public prosecutor Saud Al Mojeb had arrived in Istanbul overnight, Anadolu reported earlier.

Mattis calls for transparent Khashoggi probe

PRAGUE/MANAMA: U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said Sunday that he had met Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister and called for a transparent investigation into the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

Washington Post columnist Khashoggi’s murder has escalated into a crisis for the world’s top oil exporter as Saudi Arabia’s allies have reacted with outrage.

Mattis said he met Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir during a conference in Bahrain Saturday and discussed the killing.

“We discussed it. You know the same thing we talked about, the need for transparency, full and complete investigation,” Mattis told a small group of reporters traveling to Prague with him.

“[There was] full agreement from Foreign Minister Jubeir, no reservations at all, he said we need to know what happened and it was very collaborative, in agreement,” he added.

U.S. President Donald Trump has said he wants to get to the bottom of the case, while also highlighting Riyadh’s role as an ally against Tehran and Islamist militants, as well as a major purchaser of American arms.

Speaking alongside the Czech prime minister later Sunday, Mattis was asked how an investigation would be able to determine whether Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman had any involvement in the killing.

“Turkey, with the evidence that they have compiled, will ensure that there is more than one review of what is going on here and I’m certain the investigation will include the evidence that Turkey has put forward so far,” Mattis said during the news conference.

Saudi Arabia’s public prosecutor has said Khashoggi’s killing was premeditated, contradicting a previous official statement that it happened accidentally during a tussle in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.

Saudi Arabia’s Attorney General Saud al-Mojeb was scheduled to arrive in Turkey Sunday to discuss the latest findings of the investigation with Turkish investigators.

Asked whether the U.S. would limit its support to the Arab coalition, led by Saudi Arabia, in Yemen, Mattis said Sunday: “We’ll continue to support the defense of the kingdom.”

Jubeir Saturday told a security summit in Bahrain that Riyadh’s relations with the United States were “ironclad” amid what he described as “media hysteria” over the killing of Khashoggi.

At the same conference, Mattis had sharp words for Saudi Arabia, saying that the killing undermined

Middle Eastern stability and that Washington would take additional measures against those responsible.More broadly, Mattis’ speech Saturday focused on regional cooperation and the U.S. commitment to the Middle East.

Mattis went through a list of what he described as disruptive Iranian behavior a message most Gulf allies will view positively since they share similar concerns about Iran’s increasing influence in Syria and Iraq.

Jubeir said the Saudi “vision of light” will win over Iran’s “vision of darkness which seeks to spread sectarianism throughout the region.”

Bahrain’s Foreign Minister Shiekh Khalid bin Ahmed Al-Khalifa told the conference the Gulf bloc would remain a “pillar” of regional security and that a proposed security alliance grouping the United States, Gulf states, Jordan and Egypt would be activated next year.

The Middle East Strategic Alliance is meant to serve as a bulwark against Iran and extremism, Washington says.

But there has been uncertainty about how it can get off the ground given a protracted dispute between Qatar and four Arab states led by Saudi Arabia that launched a boycott of Doha in 2017.

Jubeir said recent discussions in Saudi Arabia about a framework for MESA included Qatari officials and that the proposed alliance would not be affected by the diplomatic row.

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