The suspected killers of journalist Jamal Khashoggi will be prosecuted in Saudi Arabia, the kingdom has said, refusing calls from Turkey for their extradition.
Ankara has demanded that 18 Saudi suspects are handed over to Turkish prosecutors investigating Khashoggi’s murder at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on October 2.
The suspects include a 15-man security team claimed by Turkey to have flown in hours before the killing and carried it out.
But Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir today said the investigation would take time and blasted what he called ‘media hysteria’ over Khashoggi’s death.
I think people have assigned blame on Saudi Arabia with such certainty before the investigation is complete,’ he said.
‘We’re trying to uncover what happened. We know that a mistake was committed. We know that people exceeded their authority and we know that we’re investigating them.
‘The individuals are Saudi nationals. They’re detained in Saudi Arabia, and the investigation is in Saudi Arabia, and they will be prosecuted in Saudi Arabia.’
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said his country had more information than it had shared so far about the killing of Khashoggi, which has strained Riyadh’s relations with the West.
He demanded that the Gulf kingdom reveal the identity of the ‘local cooperator’ who Saudi officials earlier said had taken charge of Khashoggi’s body from Saudi agents.
Police in Istanbul have continued their search for evidence as vans were seen taking samples of water from the consulate’s sewer system.
On Saturday U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said the furore undermined regional stability and said Washington would take measures against the killers.
‘Failure of any one nation to adhere to international norms and the rule of law undermines regional stability at a time when it is needed most,’ he said.
The Saudi public prosecutor said on Thursday that the killing was premeditated, contradicting the kingdom’s earlier claims that he died accidentally during a tussle in the consulate.
Saudi officials initially denied having anything to do with Khashoggi’s disappearance after he entered the consulate.
The Washington Post columnist had been visiting the consulate to obtain paperwork for a planned marriage.
Khashoggi’s Turkish fiancee, Hatice Cengiz, said she did not accept an invitation from President Donald Trump to visit the White House.
The kingdom’s shifting explanations of Khashoggi’s killing have stirred scepticism in the West and many suspect that Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman was involved.
Khashoggi was a prominent critic of the prince and a former head of MI6 has said the evidence pointed to his involvement.
His condemnation of the killing as ‘heinous’ and ‘painful’ has so far failed to ease suspicions that such a high-level operation could have been carried out without his knowledge.
Trump is a staunch ally of Riyadh but said the kingdom had staged the ‘worst cover-up ever’ over the killing.
Prince Mohammed, Riyadh’s de facto ruler who casts himself as a reformer, has said the killers will be brought to justice.
Saudi Arabia says 18 people have been arrested and five senior government officials have been sacked as part of the investigation.
Erdogan said he had spoken with Prince Mohammed, saying: ‘I also told the crown prince. You know how to make people talk.
‘Whatever happened between these 18 people, this dodgy business is among them. If you are determined to lift suspicion, then the key point of our cooperation is these 18 people.’
Pressure is also growing for the European Union to consider an arms embargo on Saudi Arabia after Germany, Austria and the European Parliament called for an end to weapons sales.
Germany has suspended arms sales but French President Emmanuel Macron said such moves smacked of populist ‘demagoguery’.
Last week UK shadow foreign secretary Emily Thornberry said Britain must apply the same standards to Saudi Arabia as it does to Russia over Khashoggi’s death.
The UK had a ‘blind spot’ on Saudi Arabia and needed to hold the Gulf Kingdom to account, she said.