Sisi's 1st comment on murder of Saudi journalist Khashoggi

CAIRO – 5 November 2018: In his first official comment on the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi recommended waiting for the outcome of the ongoing investigations and not prejudging the case.

Addressing the World Youth Forum's second edition taking place in the Red Sea city of Sharm El-Sheikh, President Sisi said that the case is investigated by the investigation authorities of two states; the one which witnessed the incident on its soil (Turkey), and Saudi Arabia.

Sisi rejected the act of prejudging the case and issuing accusations before the investigations are concluded by the two countries. "Why don't we believe people in our region?" Sisi asked.


The president compared the situation to the cases taking place in Egypt, saying that while investigations are carried out in the cases that took place in the country, and which developed countries are concerned with, "they think that we can politicize the judiciary and that we can make the paths of judiciary come in line with our interest; and this isn't the truth."

Khashoggi was killed inside the kingdom's consulate in Istanbul a month ago.
"The issue, as I said, is being investigated. We will know the truth. We will hold those responsible accountable. And we will put in place mechanisms to ensure it doesn't happen again," Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir said.

Jubeir's comments came one day after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called for the extradition of 18 Saudi nationals that authorities say were involved in the murder of Khashoggi.