Saudi minister: Nytimes piece on forethought Khashoggi murder “baseless”

Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) Saudi State Minister of Foreign Affairs, Adel al-Jubeir, has labelled a piece by New York Times, claiming that  the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi was premeditated by Crown Prince Mohamed Bin Salman, as “baseless”.

Khashoggi, a vocal Saudi critic of the royal family’s policies, disappeared in his country’s consulate in Istanbul in October 2018. Riyahd initially stressed he had left the consulate, but later confessed that a team of its investigators questioned him there but a spat between both sides ended with his death. His dead body remains missing.

On Thursday, New York Times said ” bin Salman  told a top aide in a conversation in 2017 that he would use “a bullet” on Jamal Khashoggi if he did not return to the kingdom and end his criticism of the Saudi government”, citing  “current and former American and foreign officials with direct knowledge of intelligence reports”.

Saudi -owned Al-Arabiya quoted al-Jubeir, who was foreign minister at the time of the murder, saying, while at the the U.S.A on Friday, that the article by New York Times, drew a “baseless” connection between the crown prince and the murder. He said he would not comment on the article since it “relied on unnamed sources”.

He said his country would prosecute those behind the murder.

Riyahd had already apprehended former security and intelligence officers linked to the botched questioning that led to Khashoggi’s death.