Saudis Charge 5 With Killing Khashoggi But Say Prince Not To Blame

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Khashoggi’s killing has plunged Saudi Arabia into its worst diplomatic crisis since the September 11 attacks. (AFP pic)RIYADH: Five Saudi officials face the death penalty over the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, who was drugged and dismembered inside the kingdom’s Istanbul consulate, Riyadh’s public prosecutor said Thursday
Khashoggi, a Washington Post columnist and vocal dissident, died after being drugged by the five accused and then dismembered, a spokesman for the public prosecutor’s office said in the first Saudi acknowledgement of the manner of his killing
The journalist’s body parts were then handed over to an agent outside the consulate grounds, the spokesman said
The prosecutor also exonerated Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in the murder, and accused two senior officials of giving the orders
A spokesman denied Prince Mohammed had any knowledge of the killing inside the kingdom’s Istanbul consulate, in response to a journalist’s question
The spokesman said the deputy chief of Saudi intelligence, General Ahmed al-Assiri, had given an order to force Khashoggi home, and “the head of the negotiating team” that flew to Istanbul had ordered his murder
The prosecutor has requested the death penalty for the five who “are charged with ordering and committing the crime and for the appropriate sentences for the other indicted individuals,” according to a statement published by state news agency SPA said
It said a total of 21 individuals were in custody in connection with the killing, 11 of whom have been indicted with investigations to continue into the others
Yesterday, Turkey called for an international investigation into the murder

Ankara has already shared voice recordings linked to the murder with a number of countries including Saudi Arabia, the United States and its Western allies. - FMT

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