Saudi Arabia not aware where Khashoggi’s body is

The former Saudi minister of foreign affairs, Adel al Jubeir, spoke to Face the Nation on CBS on Sunday.

The former diplomat spoke about a variety of controversial subjects, described as: “Saudi Arabia’s involvement in the Yemen War, Saudi journalist Khashoggi’s dead body and the judicial procedure.”

Observers were surprised at the diplomat’s comments about the death of Jamal Khashoggi.

“We don’t know,” was his response when asked where the former Washington Post columnist body is.

“We are still investigating”, he added.

Who is responsible for the long judicial process?

More than four months have passed since the murder of Khashoggi in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. So far, Saudi Arabia has detained 11 Saudi Arabians, mostly security service staff, for committing or being involved in the murder.

The former foreign minister claimed: “[The] Saudi public prosecutor responsible for the Khashoggi case has sought evidences from Turkish authorities but did not receive any response.”

On Friday, the Communication’s Director of the Turkish Presidency, Fahrettin Altun, tweeted: "After four months, we are still waiting for answers. Where is the body? Who ordered the hit? Was there a local collaborator? The world is watching.”

Altun said Turkey’s findings on the case were in line with those of the UN-led inquiry, adding that Ankara was committed to cooperating in a potential UN investigation into the case.

The human rights expert and UN special rapporteur investigating Khashoggi’s murder on behalf of the international community, Agnes Callamard said: “Saudi Arabia undermined Turkey’s efforts to investigate the death of Khashoggi.”

Claiming that the UN rapporteur is not linked to the UN investigation, the former Saudi minister Al Jubeir was then asked if the human rights expert would come to Saudi Arabia. He answered that “the legal system of Saudi Arabia does enough”. 

The comment prompted speculation that the UN special rapporteur may not be allowed into the country.

The death remains unknown 

“The death of Jamal Khashoggi was an act committed outside the scope of the Saudi government,” Jubair said in the interview on Sunday, presented the same day that US President Donald Trump ignored a congressional deadline for reporting on who killed Khashoggi.

Despite Turkey’s joint investigation with Saudi officials, looking at the kingdom’s consulate in Istanbul, the consul’s residence and several other locations, the whereabouts of Khashoggi’s remains are still unknown.

“The Crown Prince has nothing to do with this [murder],” Jubair maintained in the interview.

Although both the CIA and the US Senate link the crown prince to the killing of Khashoggi, Jubeir simply stated: “Emotions are here in place.” 

In an interview with Turkey’s state broadcaster on Sunday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said both the crown prince and Jubeir had lied about the case and pressure from Turkey had led to Jubeir being removed from his post as foreign minister in December.  

The CIA and US Senate have concluded that the Saudi operation was likely directed by the powerful crown prince, but the White House has sidestepped those findings amid strenuous denials by Riyadh, a key US ally.

A New York Times report on Friday said the CIA had intercepted communications of the crown prince telling a top aide in 2017 that he would go after Khashoggi "with a bullet" if the journalist did not return to Saudi Arabia.

A year before Khashoggi was killed, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed told an aide he would use "a bullet" on the journalist if he did not return home and end his criticism of the kingdom.