Saudi Arabia rejects hysterical approach to Khashoggi issue

By Naila Barakat Manama, Oct. 27 (BNA): Saudi Arabia is investigating the gruesome murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi and the responsible will be brought to justice. “We have an investigation that is going on in Saudi Arabia. We also have Saudi law enforcement people working with Turkish friends to uncover facts,” Adel Al Jubeir, the foreign minister, told the Manama Dialogue. “This issue has become hysterical and people have assigned blame on Saudi Arabia with such certainty before the investigation is completed. We have made it very clear that we are going to have a full and transparent investigation, the results of which will be released. We have also made it clear that those responsible will be held responsible and held to account. We have made it very clear that we will put into place mechanisms to make sure this does not happen again.” Al Jubeir stressed that investigations take time and the facts are determined as they go ob. “We have tried to share the information that we have obtained with the public, but unfortunately, there has been this hysteria in the media about Saudi Arabia’s guilt before the investigation is completed,” he said. “What we say to people is to wait until the everything is done. Let’s reflect on the results of the investigation and make a determination on whether the investigation was serious or not, but not from the get-go.” In terms of details of the investigations, Al Jubeir said he cannot comment on them because he is not privy to them. “Every day, we uncover new things, we discover new things, new items. New evidence comes to light that the prosecutor incorporates into his investigation and as a result the picture begins to emerge,” he said. “In terms of this issue how this was brought about and if it reflects the involvement of the leadership of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, we try to uncover what happened We know a mistake had been committed. We know that people had exceeded their authority, and we know that we are investigating.” Six officials were dismissed in addition to the 18 who are detained by the public prosecutor for questioning, he added. “We will investigate, we will share the results of the investigation. We will hold people to account and those responsible will be punished and we will in place mechanisms to ensure it does not happen again, so wait until the results of the investigation and make a judgement.” Abdullah Abdulmalik Alsheikh, Saudi Arabia’s Ambassador to Bahrain on the sidelines of the conference told Bahrain News Agency (BNA) that the politicization of this unfortunate incident was appalling. “The deceased journalist was a Saudi national and the Kingdom’s constitution safeguards the rights of all of its citizens irrespective of the difference of opinion,” he said. Referring to the hype in the case, he said that the politicisation of the issue by some parties was unnecessary and unfortunate. His comments come a day after Turkey said it wished to extradite 18 Saudi nationals that are suspected of involvement in the murder on October 2 in Istanbul. The ambassador added that upon the completion of the ongoing investigation, the suspects would be prosecuted according to the Saudi laws. “The leadership has affirmed that those who are involved in this alleged murder irrespective of their positions will be brought to justice,” the ambassador, said, adding that the politicization of the issue would not yield any results.