Tag Archives: Khashoggi

Trump support for Saudi prince leaves Turkey with tough choices

FILE PHOTO: Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman arrives at Ministro Pistarini in Buenos Aires, Argentina, November 28, 2018. Argentine G20/Handout via REUTERS

By Orhan Coskun and Dominic Evans

ISTANBUL (Reuters) – Eight weeks since the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, U.S. President Donald Trump’s unwavering support for the kingdom’s powerful crown prince has left Turkey in a bind.

The longer it confronts Saudi Arabia over who exactly ordered the operation, the more it risks looking isolated as other countries put aside their misgivings and return to business with the world’s biggest oil exporter.

A prolonged standoff with Riyadh could also jeopardize Turkey’s own fragile rapprochement with Washington if it forces Trump to choose sides between the rival regional powers.

Turkey’s dilemma comes to a head this week at the G20 summit of the world’s main economies, where President Tayyip Erdogan and Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman could meet, according to Turkish officials.

Without naming him, Erdogan has repeatedly suggested the prince has questions to answer over the killing, while one of his advisers has said bluntly that Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler has Khashoggi’s blood on his hands.

But Erdogan has avoided talking about Khashoggi’s death in recent speeches, raising questions about whether he may soften his stance towards the 33-year-old heir to the throne who could be running Saudi Arabia for several decades to come.

“A meeting may take place. A final decision has not been made yet,” a senior political source said, shortly before Erdogan’s departure for the summit in Argentina.

“Saudi Arabia is an important country for Turkey … Nobody wants relations to sour because of the Khashoggi murder.”

Erdogan has good relations with the Saudi monarch, King Salman, but ties have been strained by recent Saudi moves including the blockade of Qatar, championed by Salman’s son.

Analysts say Erdogan sees Saudi assertiveness under the prince as challenging Turkey’s influence in the Middle East.

FILE PHOTO: A woman takes part in a protest opposing the visit of Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Tunis, Tunisia, November 27, 2018. REUTERS/Zoubeir Souissi/File Photo

FILE PHOTO: A woman takes part in a protest opposing the visit of Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Tunis, Tunisia, November 27, 2018. REUTERS/Zoubeir Souissi/File Photo

It was the steady drip of evidence from Turkish officials – furious over what they said was a gruesome and carefully planned assassination in their country – which fuelled global outrage at Saudi Arabia and Prince Mohammed.

Erdogan said the hit was ordered at the highest levels of Saudi leadership, and the CIA assessed the prince was directly behind it, despite vehement Saudi denials.

But nearly two months since Khashoggi was killed and his body dismembered by a team of 15 Saudi agents, Western powers have taken little action against Saudi Arabia, a big buyer of Western arms and a strategic ally of Washington.

The most concrete U.S. step so far was a decision in mid-November to impose economic sanctions on 17 Saudi officials, including the prince’s senior aide, Saud al-Qahtani.

Meanwhile, Trump has stood by the crown prince, saying he does not want to jeopardize U.S. business and defying intense pressure from lawmakers to impose broader sanctions on Saudi Arabia.

SECOND THOUGHTS?

On Wednesday, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said there was no direct evidence connecting Prince Mohammed to Khashoggi’s murder, and that any downgrading of U.S.-Saudi ties in response would hurt U.S. security.

That clear message from the Trump administration may be forcing Turkey to think again.

“Initially the objective was to pressure Trump to drop his relationship with MbS,” said Sinan Ulgen, a former Turkish diplomat and analyst at the Carnegie Europe think tank, referring to the crown prince.

“On the contrary, Trump seems to have decided to consolidate that relationship, and that’s why there had to be a reassessment in Ankara about how to manage this,” he said.

Ulgen said Erdogan’s priority was to safeguard the modest recovery in relations with Washington since a Turkish court last month freed a U.S. pastor who had been detained for two years on terrorism charges.

“Turkey doesn’t want to endanger the political capital that it earned in Washington by pushing too far (on Khashoggi). That’s the main motivation,” he said.

Bolstered by Trump’s support, Saudi officials have insisted that Prince Mohammed did not know in advance about the operation, and Foreign Minister Adel Jubeir said last week Turkish authorities had told Saudi officials that they were not accusing the crown prince of involvement.

Saudi Arabia’s official news agency said trade ministers from the two countries met in Istanbul on Wednesday and would encourage Saudi investment in Turkey, and Turkish companies to take part in projects in Saudi Arabia.

Any change in Turkey’s approach would likely be gradual. Erdogan made no mention of Saudi Arabia when he spoke to reporters as he left Istanbul airport on Wednesday night, but he may still choose not to meet the prince in Argentina.

“Saudi Arabia has yet to make a satisfactory statement regarding the murder in Istanbul,” said Ilter Turan, a professor of political science at Turkey’s Bilgi University.

“The Turkish government is still working on the investigation … It’s possible to say that it’s a little too early for a meeting.”

Another Turkish official said the government was still assessing the Saudi request for a meeting. If the two men do hold talks in Buenos Aires, the conversation would be broadly the same as the phone call they held a month ago, he said.

“Turkey will repeat its current position at the meeting if there is one,” the official said. “Turkey wants all those responsible for the murder to be brought to justice, and it’s not asking for a punishment for Saudi Arabia.”

“It’s not realistic to expect a major improvement from that meeting, but a contact will have been made”

(Additional reporting by Tulay Karadeniz; Editing by Giles Elgood)

Turkey presses Saudi to say who sent Khashoggi killers: Erdogan

Saudi public prosecutor Saud Al Mojeb leaves from Saudi Arabia's consulate in Istanbul, Turkey October 30, 2018. REUTERS/Kemal Aslan

By Gulsen Solaker

ANKARA (Reuters) – The Turkish lawyer looking into the death of Jamal Khashoggi has asked Saudi Arabia’s prosecutor to disclose who sent the team involved in the journalist’s killing, President Tayyip Erdogan said on Tuesday.

Saudi prosecutor Saud Al Mojeb held talks with Istanbul’s prosecutor on Monday and Tuesday about Khashoggi’s death in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, which has escalated into a crisis for the world’s top oil exporter.

Riyadh at first denied any knowledge of or role in, his disappearance four weeks ago but Mojeb has contradicted those statements, saying the killing of Khashoggi, a critic of de facto ruler Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, was premeditated.

The case has put into focus the West’s close relationship with Saudi Arabia – a major arms buyer and lynchpin of Washington’s regional plans to contain Iran – given the widespread skepticism over its initial response.

Turkey has kept up the pressure on the Saudis, demanding a full explanation and releasing a steady flow of evidence which undermined Riyadh’s early denials.

Saudi Arabia says that 18 suspects in the case will face justice in the kingdom, despite repeated calls from Ankara for them to be extradited for trial in Turkey.

“Yesterday, our prosecutor told the Saudi prosecutor that the prosecution could be carried out in Turkey since the location of the crime is Istanbul,” Erdogan told reporters at Turkey’s parliament.

Saudi officials also needed to disclose who had sent a 15-strong team to Istanbul to carry out the operation targeting Khashoggi, as well as the identity of a local agent said to have helped dispose of his body.

“Our prosecutor asked who sent the group that came here and said that this needed to be looked at,” Erdogan said. “Saudi officials need to reveal the local cooperators. Let us know whoever this person is and we will find them.

“We cannot leave this issue unsolved, we need to solve it now. There is no point in procrastinating or trying to save some people from under this.”

Saudi prosecutor Mojeb held talks with Istanbul’s chief prosecutor, Irfan Fidan, at Istanbul’s main courthouse for a second time on Tuesday before heading for the consulate where Khashoggi was killed, Turkish broadcaster NTV reported.

On Monday, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu called on Riyadh to conclude the investigation as soon as possible.

“The whole truth must be revealed,” he said. “We believe (Mujeb’s) visit is important for these truths to come out.”

(Additional reporting by Daren Butler in Istanbul and Tuvan Gumrukcu in Ankara; Editing by Dominic Evans, Richard Balmforth)

CIA chief to brief Trump after hearing Khashoggi audio

FILE PHOTO: CIA Director nominee Gina Haspel testifies at her confirmation hearing before the Senate Intelligence Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., May 9, 2018. REUTERS/Aaron P. Bernstein/File Photo

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – CIA Director Gina Haspel will brief U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday on the killing of Jamal Khashoggi, White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said after the spy agency chief heard an audio recording of the Saudi journalist’s death.

Haspel traveled to Turkey this week to review intelligence about the Khashoggi incident and heard an audio recording there of his death, sources told Reuters. Representatives for the CIA and Turkish intelligence declined to comment.

The United States has revoked visas for a number of Saudis thought to be responsible for Khashoggi’s death in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on Oct. 2.

Trump was scheduled to receive an intelligence briefing at 11:30 a.m..

The killing of Khashoggi, a Washington Post columnist and a critic of Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, has sparked global condemnation and mushroomed into a major crisis for the world’s top oil exporter.

Trump was quoted by the Wall Street Journal on Tuesday as saying that the crown prince bore ultimate responsibility for the operation that led to Khashoggi’s death.

Saudi Arabia’s public prosecutor said on Thursday the murder of Khashoggi was premeditated, reversing previous official statements that the killing was unintended.

(Reporting by Susan Heavey and Mark Hosenball; Editing by Doina Chiacu and Alistair Bell)

In change of tack, Saudi Arabia says Khashoggi’s murder ‘premeditated’

FILE PHOTO: Saudi dissident Jamal Khashoggi speaks at an event hosted by Middle East Monitor in London, Britain, September 29, 2018. Middle East Monitor/Handout via REUTERS

DUBAI/ISTANBUL (Reuters) – Saudi Arabia’s public prosecutor said on Thursday the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in the kingdom’s Istanbul consulate was premeditated, reversing previous official statements that the killing was unintended.

The death of Khashoggi, a Washington Post columnist and critic of de facto Saudi ruler Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, has sparked global outrage and mushroomed into a crisis for the world’s top oil exporter and strategic ally of the West.

Saudi officials initially denied having anything to do with Khashoggi’s disappearance after he entered the consulate on Oct. 2, before changing the official account to say an internal investigation suggested Khashoggi was accidentally killed in a botched operation to return him to the kingdom.

Turkey and Western allies of Riyadh have voiced deep skepticism about Saudi explanations of the killing, with Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan dismissing Saudi efforts to blame rogue operatives and urging the kingdom to search “top to bottom” for those responsible.

On Thursday, Saudi state TV quoted the Saudi public prosecutor as saying the killing was premeditated, and that prosecutors were interrogating suspects on the basis of information provided by a joint Saudi-Turkish task force.

“Information from the Turkish side affirms that the suspects in Khashoggi’s case premeditated their crime,” said the statement carried by state TV.

The disclosure came a day after U.S. President Donald Trump, the kingdom’s staunchest Western ally, was quoted by the Wall Street Journal as saying that Prince Mohammed, also known as MbS, bore ultimate responsibility for the operation that led to Khashoggi’s death.

Two informed sources told Reuters on Thursday that CIA director Gina Haspel heard an audio recording of the killing during a fact-finding visit to Turkey this week, the first indication Ankara has shared its key investigative evidence.

A White House spokeswoman said Haspel would meet with Trump later on Thursday to brief him on the case. Representatives of the CIA declined to comment.

“We have shared with those who sought additional information some of the information and findings that the prosecutor has allowed us to share,” Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu told reporters, without giving specific details.

INTELLIGENCE RESTRUCTURING

Saudi Arabia has detained 18 people and dismissed five senior government officials as part of the investigation into Khashoggi’s murder. Some were members of a 15-man hit team, many of them Saudi intelligence operatives, who flew into Istanbul hours before Khashoggi’s death, Turkish security sources say.

Turkish police were investigating water samples from a well at the consulate on Thursday after initially being denied access, broadcaster CNN Turk said.

King Salman, who has delegated the day-to-day running of Saudi Arabia to his son MbS, on Saturday ordered a restructuring of the general intelligence agency.

Saudi state news agency SPA said on Thursday that MbS had presided over the first meeting of a committee to carry out that restructuring and that it had come up with recommendations to improve the agency’s work.

How Western allies deal with Riyadh will hinge on the extent to which they believe responsibility for Khashoggi’s death lies directly with MbS and the Saudi authorities.

MbS promised on Wednesday the killers would be brought to justice, his first public comments on the matter after speaking by phone with Erdogan.

Erdogan has called Khashoggi’s murder a “savage killing” and demanded Riyadh punish those responsible, no matter how highly placed. Cavusoglu said Turkey had no intention of taking the Khashoggi case to an international court but would share information if an international inquiry were launched.

DEFIANT

Saudi Arabia is the lynchpin of a U.S.-backed regional bloc against Iran but the crisis has strained Riyadh’s relations with the West. Dozens of Western officials, world bankers, and company executives shunned a major three-day investment conference in Riyadh this week.

But striking a defiant tone, MbS told international investors at the conference on Wednesday that the furor would not derail the kingdom’s reform drive.

“We will prove to the world that the two governments (Saudi and Turkish) are cooperating to punish any criminal, any culprit and at the end justice will prevail,” he said to applause.

Saudi Energy Minister Khalid Al-Falih conceded on Wednesday that the scandal had hurt the kingdom’s image. But he said Saudi Arabia had signed $56 billion of deals at the conference despite the partial boycott and that it expected the United States to remain a key business partner.

“The interests that tie us are bigger than what is being weakened by the failed boycotting campaign of the conference,” he told Saudi state TV.

Britain, like the United States a major weapons supplier to the kingdom, has described Riyadh’s explanations for the killing as lacking credibility. France has said it will consider sanctions against Saudi Arabia if its intelligence services find Riyadh was behind Khashoggi’s death.

For their part, the Trump administration and the U.S. defense industry are scrambling to save the few actual deals in a much-touted $110 billion arms package for Saudi Arabia.

(Reporting by Asma Alsharif and Tuqa Khalid in Dubai; Ali Kucukgocmen and Tulay Karadeniz in Ankara; Susan Heavey in Washington; Writing by Mark Heinrich; Editing by Nick Tattersall)