Ottawa – Canada doesn’t believe Saudi Arabia’s explanation for the death of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.
While Turkey says the Saudis sent a hit squad of 15 to kill and dismember Khashoggi, Saudis say he died when a fight broke out inside the consulate. In a previous statement they stated he had left the consulate alive.
“Canada condemns the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, which the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has confirmed took place in its consulate in Istanbul,” Canada’s external affairs minister Chrystia Freeland said in a statement.
“The explanations offered to date lack consistency and credibility,” she added,
“We also express our sincere condolences to Hatice Cengiz and the family and loved ones of Mr. Khashoggi. The pain they are enduring as a result of this tragedy is heartbreaking,” she added.
“We reiterate our call for a thorough investigation, in full collaboration with the Turkish authorities, and a full and rigorous accounting of the circumstances surrounding Mr. Khashoggi’s death.”
“Those responsible for the killing must be held to account and must face justice.”
This is the strongest statement to come out of Canada since the journalist disappeared.
The fact that Canada does not believe the Saudi explanation sends a strong message to King Salman to come forth with the truth.
The Saudis claim they arrested 18 people but the King has handed the task of reforming the intelligence services to his beloved son MBS. The move suggests it was a rogue intelligence mission MBS was not aware of.
Most Western intelligence suggests MBS had to authorize a mission to kill a Saudi citizen in a foreign land. Some of the people identified as responsible for the murder are close to MBS and have travelled with him.
Ministers from the France, Holland and the US have backed out of an investment conference in Riyadh which was dubbed Davos in the Desert.
Saudi Ministry of foreign affairs STATEMENT in full:
The disappearance of the citizen / Jamal bin Ahmed Khashoggi drew the attention of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia at the highest levels, and the circumstances surrounding his disappearance.
The Kingdom took the necessary procedures to clarify the truth and immediately dispatched an investigation team to Turkey on October 6th, 2018 to investigate and cooperate with their counterparts in Turkey, which resulted in the formation of the Joint Investigation Team between the Kingdom and the Republic of Turkey and the permission to the Turkish authorities to enter the premisses of the Consulate of the Kingdom in Istanbul and the residence of the Consul, for the Kingdom keenness to know all the facts.
The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud also have issued a decree No. 5709 dated 31440/2/ H. October 14th, 2018 to investigate the incident.
The investigations were carried out by the Public Prosecution and it investigated a number of suspects on the basis of information provided by the Turkish authorities to the Joint Investigation Team to determine whether any of them had any information or involvement regarding the incident noting that the information provided to the investigation team indicate that Jamal Khashoggi has left the consulate.
In order to implement the directives of the leadership which state the importance to reveal the truth in any way and declare it transparently, preliminary investigations conducted by the Public Prosecution showed that the suspect traveled to Istanbul to meet with Jamal Khashoggi after indications appeared the possibility of returning Jamal Khashoggi to the country.
The results of the preliminary investigations revealed that the discussions that took place with the citizen / Jamal Khashoggi during his presence in the Consulate of the Kingdom in Istanbul by the suspects did not go as required and escalated negatively which led to a fight between them and the citizen / Jamal Khashoggi, which aggregated the situation and led to his death, may God rest his soul, in addition to their attempt to conceal what happened and to cover it up.
The source added that while the investigations are still ongoing in the case with the 18 detainees of Saudi nationality, the Kingdom expresses its deep regret at the painful outcome and stresses the commitment of the authorities in the Kingdom to bring the facts to the public, as well as holding all those involved and bringing them to justice by referring them to the competent courts in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
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COMMUNICATION .MOFA.GOMSA
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20 October 2018
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Jamal #Khashoggi died in fight at consulate — Saudi State TV pic.twitter.com/I3OeUTEc6Y
— Ruptly (@Ruptly) October 20, 2018
