The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Jamal Khashoggi

  • Germany approves $450m Saudi arms sales despite ban

    German government has approved arms deliveries worth 450 million dollars to Saudi-led forces in Yemen during its first year in office in spite of a partial export ban, dpa reported.

    The government issued 208 permits to the eight participating countries during its first 12 months, it said.

    Germany’s coalition government agreed to ban arms sales to countries involved in the Yemen conflict in March 2018, but allowed existing orders to be fulfilled.

    READ ALSO: Germany seeks employment opportunities for Nigerians

    After the October 2018 killing of dissident Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, Berlin also blocked sales that had been previously approved.

    The issue has generated a heated controversy; and which threatens to split the German government.

    Merkel’s Conservative Christian Democrats (CDU) and their Bavarian allies in the Christian Social Union (CSU) however, wish to lift the restrictions.

  • Jamal Khashoggi: Murder so horrible

    For those uninterested in the politics of Middle East and Saudi Arabia in particular, the name of the late Saudi dissident writer Jamal Khashoggi, 59, did not ring a bell. All these were to change on October 2, midday, when he reportedly disappeared after entering the Saudi Arabia consulate in Istanbul, the Turkish capital. The CCTV in front of the embassy captured him taking few long steps to enter the embassy. That was the last time he was seen alive. He was murdered by a hit team from Saudi Arabia and his body dismembered for easy disposal.

    Right from few hours after his disappearance, Turkish officials had maintained he was killed few minutes after stepping into the embassy and his body dismembered. The evidence includes alleged gruesome audio recordings. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, after several denials and subterfuges, based on relentless pressure by Turkey and the rest of the world, finally admitted killing Khashoggi but were quick to distance the country’s ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MbS) from the murder.

    The killing of Khashoggi was a major diplomatic storm for the Saudi Arabia with most Western countries calling for an independent investigation, including the United States of America (US) Senate. Based on intelligence report by the America’s CIA, the US Senate said MbS was responsible for the murder and called on President Donald Trump to impose sanctions on Saudi Arabia over the killing, including the embargo on key weapon sales to Saudi Arabia. However, President Trump refused to impose any sanction on MbS claiming there was no direct evidence linking the Saudi ruler to the killing.

    Although the pressure has gone down, Turkey and the rest of the world are still waiting for Saudi to come out with an answer on who ordered the killing of Khasoggi and punish those culpable. The Khashoggi murder has done so much damage to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and it will take a long time for the country to recover.

  • Saudi minister pledges full probe into Khashoggi killing

    Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir said on Tuesday the kingdom was committed to a thorough and complete investigation to obtain the truth behind the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in Turkey.

    Saudi Arabia had sent a team to Turkey for a joint investigation and “uncovered evidence of a murder” in the Saudi Arabian consulate in Istanbul, the minister told a news conference in Indonesia during a state visit.

    “We expressed commitment to see to it that the investigation is thorough and complete and the truth is revealed and those responsible will be held to account.

    “We will see to it that procedures and mechanisms are put in place to ensure that something like this can never happen again,” al-Jubeir said at the joint news conference with his Indonesian counterpart.

    Khashoggi, a Washington Post columnist and critic of the Saudi government, disappeared after he entered the consulate in Istanbul on October 2, to obtain documents for his marriage.

    Saudi Arabia initially denied knowledge of his fate before saying he had been killed in a fight in the consulate, an explanation that has drawn international skepticism.

    Read Also: Iran arrests groups planning attacks on pilgrims – Minister

    Foreign Minister al-Jubeir said 18 people had been detained and six senior government officials had already been dismissed as a result of the investigation.

    On Monday, al-Jubeir met Indonesian President Joko Widodo who called for a “transparent and thorough” investigation of the killing.

    U.S. President Donald Trump spoke with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the kingdom’s de facto ruler on Sunday.

    Trump said on Monday that he was still not satisfied with what he has heard from Saudi Arabia about the killing of journalist Khashoggi in Turkey, but did not want to lose investment from Riyadh.

    He had told reporters on Monday that he has teams in Saudi Arabia and Turkey working on the case and would know more about it after they returned to Washington on Monday night or Tuesday.

    Central Intelligence Agency Director Gina Haspel was traveling to Turkey on Monday to work on the Khashoggi investigation, two sources familiar with the matter told Reuters.

    “I am not satisfied with what I’ve heard,” Trump told reporters at the White House. “I don’t want to lose all that investment that’s been made in our country. But we’re going to get to the bottom of it.”

    He later told U.S.A. Today that he believed the death was a “plot gone awry.”

    Trump has expressed reluctance to punish the Saudis economically, citing the kingdom’s multi-billion-dollar purchases of U.S. military equipment and investments in U.S. companies.

    Saudi state media said that Prince Mohammed met with U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin in Riyadh and discussed “the importance of the Saudi-U.S. strategic partnership.

    Mnuchin’s spokesman said on Twitter the two discussed the Khashoggi investigation as well as Iran sanctions and Saudi economic issues.

    In another development, Turkey Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Tuesday that Turkey had not yet shared any information with any country from its probe into the killing of Khashoggi.

    Cavusoglu made the comment in a televised interview with the state-run Anadolu news agency; hours before President Tayyip Erdogan was due to reveal what he has said were details in the case.

    He said that Turkey is ready to cooperate with any international investigation into Khashoggi’s killing.

    Authorities have been investigating Khashoggi’s disappearance after he entered the consulate on Oct. 2. After weeks of denial, Saudi Arabia at the weekend said the journalist had been killed at the consulate.

    Erdogan has said that he would share the information of the investigation in a speech on Tuesday.

    Saudi Arabia brushed off a Western boycott over Khashoggi case as it prepared to launch an investment conference on Tuesday that has been overshadowed by the withdrawal of dozens of top business and government leaders.

    Hundreds of bankers and company executives are still expected to join officials at a palatial Riyadh hotel for the Future Investment Initiative.

    The initiative is an annual event designed to help attract billions of dollars of foreign capital as part of reforms to end Saudi dependence on oil exports.

    The 2017 inaugural conference drew the global business elite, earning it the informal title “Davos in the Desert”.

    However, the 2018 event has been marred by the pullout of more than two dozen high-level speakers following an international outcry over Khashoggi’s killing.

  • Trump says he’ll talk to Saudis about missing journalist

    U.S. President Donald Trump said on Tuesday he plans to speak with Saudi Arabian officials at some point about the disappearance of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, who went missing a week ago.

    Trump, speaking at the White House, said he does not know anything about Khashoggi’s disappearance and that he had not yet spoken with Saudi officials about the situation.

    Khashoggi has not been heard from or seen since he entered the Saudi consulate in Istanbul last Tuesday, his fiancée and friends have said.

    Turkish officials told Reuters over the weekend they believed he had been killed inside the consulate.

    Read Also: Trump rejects globalism in speech at UN

    Saudi officials earlier on Tuesday invited Turkish experts and related officials to visit the consulate, according to Turkey’s state-owned news agency Anadolu.

    On Sunday, Trump said he was concerned about reports regarding the journalist and did not “like hearing about it,” but that he hoped the situation “that will sort itself out.”

  • Journalist Jamal Khashoggi was murdered in Saudi consulate, says Turkish govt

    Fears are growing over the missing Saudi writer Jamal Khashoggi, after Turkish officials said they believed he had been murdered.

    Mr Khashoggi, a Saudi national, was last seen visiting the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on Tuesday.

    A Turkish official told the BBC that initial investigations indicated he was murdered there.

    Saudi Arabia has denied the accusations, saying it is “working to search for him”.

    Mr Khashoggi has contributed articles to the Washington Post’s opinion section. The Post said it would be a “monstrous and unfathomable act” if he had been killed.

    An official of Turkey’s ruling AK Party told broadcaster CNN Turk there was concrete evidence in the case, although none has yet been presented.

    She said Mr Khashoggi was required to surrender his mobile phone, which is standard practice in some diplomatic missions. He told her to call an adviser to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan if he did not return.

    “Jamal is not dead. I cannot believe that he has been killed…!” Ms Cengiz wrote in a Twitter post that included a photo of Mr Khashoggi. She added that she was waiting for official confirmation as the allegations circulated.