Jamal Khashoggi in an interview at CAF 2015 annual Forum - YouTube
CAIRO - 20 October 2018: Late on Friday, Saudi Arabia said the journalist Jamal Khashoggi - who went missing after visiting the country's consulate in Istanbul earlier this month - is dead. This is the first time the kingdom has admitted Khashoggi is dead.
Following this acknowledgement, many procedures have been taken by Saudi Arabia against high ranking officials in the Kingdom. Egypt Today presents the last updates of Khashoggi case.
Deputy Head of KSA Intelligence, 5 officials relieved from posts
Saudi Arabia has said that it has fired five high-ranking officials in connection with finally admitting that a journalist has died.
The kingdom said it has fired deputy intelligence chief Ahmed Assiri and royal court adviser Saud al-Qahtani.
18 Saudis detained
Saudi Arabia statement that released on Friday said that 18 suspects have been detained. Those suspects who had been detained, but not named, got into a fight with Khashoggi, which led to his death.
'While the investigations are still ongoing into the case with the 18 Saudi detainees, the Kingdom expresses its deep regret at the painful developments that have taken place,' the statement added.
Saudi Arabia's full statement on Khashoggi:
The case of the disappearance of the citizen / Jamal bin Ahmed Khashoggi drew the attention of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia at the highest levels, and due to the circumstances surrounding his disappearance, the Kingdom took the necessary procedures to clarify the truth and began by dispatching a security team to Turkey on 6 October 2018 to investigate and cooperate with counterparts in Turkey.
That was followed by the formation of a joint security team between the Kingdom and the Republic of Turkey, with a permission given to the Turkish security authorities to enter the Consulate of the Kingdom in Istanbul and the residence of the Consul, for the Kingdom's keenness to clarify all the facts, as the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud has issued an order to the Public Prosecutor of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, No. 5709 dated 3/2/1440 H to conduct investigations into the case The Public Prosecutor has already investigated a number of suspects on the basis of information provided by the Turkish authorities to the Joint Security Team to determine whether any of them had any information or relation to what has been happened related where the information that transferred to the security authorities indicated that the citizen Jamal Khashoggi had left the consulate.
In implementation to the directives of the leadership of the need to clearly know the truth and declare it transparently whatever, the preliminary investigations conducted by the Public Prosecution showed that the suspect had travelled to Istanbul to meet with the citizen Jamal Khashoggi as there were indications of the possibility of his returning back to the country.
The results of the preliminary investigations also revealed that the discussions that took place with the citizen / Jamal Khashoggi during his presence in the Consulate of the Kingdom in Istanbul by the suspects did not go as required and developed in a negative way led to a fight and a quarrel between some of them and the citizen / Jamal Khashoggi, yet the brawl aggravated to lead to his death and their attempt to conceal and cover what happened.
The source added that while the investigations are still ongoing into the case with the 18 Saudi detainees, the Kingdom expresses its deep regret at the painful developments that have taken place and stresses the commitment of the authorities in the Kingdom to bring the facts to the public opinion, to hold all those involved accountable and bring them to justice by referring them to the competent courts in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
Trump praises Saudi explanation of Khashoggi's killing as 'good first step'
US President Donald Trump says Saudi explanation for Jamal Khashoggi's killing is credible and a 'good first step'. The American leader said he does not believe Saudi Arabia's leadership lied to him, adding that the US needs Saudi Arabia to counteract Iran.
The White House added it is 'saddened' by the confirmed death of the Saudi journalist.
'The United States acknowledges the announcement from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia that its investigation into the fate of Jamal Khasshoggi is progressing and that it has taken action against the suspects it has identified thus far,' Press Secretary Sarah Sanders wrote in a statement.
'We will continue to follow international investigations into this tragic incident and advocate for justice that is timely, transparent and in accordance with all due process.
'We offer our deepest condolences to his family, fiancee and friends.'
Reactions to Saudi's move in the case
Egypt hailed on Saturday the results of investigations announced by Saudi top prosecutor into the killing of the journalist Gamal Khashoggi.
"Egypt sees that the brave and decisive decisions and actions taken by the Saudi King in this matter align with his majesty's approach that respects the principles of law and applications of effective justice," the Egyptian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
Saudi Arabia’s highest religious body, the Council of Senior Scholars, on Saturday said the king’s decisions on the death of Jamal Khashoggi “achieve justice and equality in accordance with Islamic law”
The United Arab Emirates on Saturday backed Saudi Arabia’s statement about the death of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, the official news agency WAM said.
The Gulf Arab state “commends directives and decisions of Saudi King Salman on the issue of Kashoggi,” WAM said on Twitter.
Bahrain commended King Salman's decisions for justice, fairness and truth, saying that Saudi Arabia will remain a state of justice, values and principles.
Washington Post writer and veteran Saudi reporter Jamal Khashoggi, 59, disappeared in Istanbul, Turkey after entering the consulate of Saudi Arabia on October 2.
After completing its own investigation into what happened to the Post's Global Opinions section columnist at the Saudi consulate in Turkey, the kingdom of Saudi Arabia asserted on Friday that Khashoggi died following an altercation on the day he entered the facility.
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