Saudis now say journalist was murdered

International Desk: Saudi Arabia says that journalist Jamal Khashoggi was murdered, blaming a "rogue operation" for a killing that has sparked an international outcry.

Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir told Fox News the act was a "tremendous mistake" and denied the influential crown prince ordered the killing.

Saudi Arabia has been under pressure to explain what happened, having first said Mr Khashoggi was alive.

He was last seen entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on 2 October.

Turkish officials believe Mr Khashoggi, a prominent critic of the Saudi government, was murdered by a team of Saudi agents inside the building.

Saudi Arabia initially said he had left the building unharmed but on Friday admitted for the first time he was dead, saying that he was killed in a fight.

That claim though met widespread scepticism.

In his comments, Mr al-Jubeir described the incident as murder.

"We are determined to find out all the facts. And we are determined to punish those who are responsible for this murder," he said.

"The individuals who did this did this outside the scope of their authority," he added. "There obviously was a tremendous mistake made, and what compounded the mistake was the attempt to try to cover up."

He also said that they did not know where the body was, and insisted the action was not ordered by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, seen as Saudi Arabia's most influential figure.

"Even the senior leadership of our intelligence service was not aware of this," he said, calling it a "rogue operation".

Saudi Arabia says it arrested 18 people, sacked two aides of Mohammed bin Salman and set up a body, under his leadership, to reform the intelligence agency following the incident.

Agencies


risingbd/Dhaka/Oct 22, 2018/Nasim