SAUDI ARABIA SAYS KHASHOGGI MURDER PREMEDITATED

This news has been read 14524 times!

Kuwait reiterates support for Riyadh – Firms said to apologise for forum boycott

A police car and an ambulance are seen parked outside the Ritz Carlton Hotel in the Saudi capital Riyadh on Oct 24, where the Future Investment Initiative (FII) summit is taking place. (AFP)

KUWAIT CITY, Oct 25, (Agencies): Kuwait’s Deputy Foreign Minister Khaled Al-Jarallah on Wednesday reiterated Kuwait’s support of Saudi Arabia on the matter of the killing of Saudi national Jamal Khashoggi, welcoming decisions taken in relation to the incident.

The measures recently taken by King Salman bin Abdulaziz on this issue reflect Riyadh’s “commitment to justice and accountability with regard to the perpetrators of this incident,” he said. “So we support our brothers in the Kingdom, and denounce the unjust campaign and slander it is being subjected to,” he added. Asked about rumours Riyadh would be subject to sanctions, Al-Jarallah said Saudi Arabia’s “transparency would enable it to deter such attempts.” Al-Jarallah also welcomed Saudi Crown Prince and Deputy Prime Minister Mohammad bin Salman’s pledge of his country’s warm relations with Turkey.

“I believe things are moving in the right direction,” he said, welcoming the announcement Saudi Arabia’s public prosecutor said on Thursday the killing of Khashoggi was premeditated, citing a joint Saudi-Turkish investigation, state media reported. Saudi officials had earlier said an internal investigation suggested Khashoggi was killed in a botched operation to “negotiate” his return to the Kingdom.

Initially, Riyadh denied having anything to do with Khashoggi’s disappearance after he entered the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on Oct 2. Turkey and Western allies of Riyadh have voiced deep doubt towards Saudi explanations of the killing. Turkey has dismissed Saudi efforts to blame rogue operatives and urged the Kingdom to search “top to bottom” for those responsible for the killing.

“Information from the Turkish side affirms that the suspects in Khashoggi’s case premeditated their crime,” a statement from the Saudi public prosecutor said. Saudi prosecutors are interrogating suspects on the basis of information provided by a joint Saudi-Turkish task force, the statement carried by the Saudi state news agency added. Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan spoke to Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, and the two discussed the steps needed to bring to light all aspects of the killing, Saudi and Turkish media said on Wednesday.

CIA director Gina Haspel heard an audio recording of the killing of Khashoggi during her visit to Turkey this week, two sources told Reuters on Thursday. On Wednesday, US President Donald Trump was quoted by the Wall Street Journal as saying that as Riyadh’s paramount ruler, Prince Mohammed bore ultimate responsibility for the operation that led to Khashoggi’s death.

In a separate statement, SPA said the crown prince presided over the first meeting of a committee to restructure the Kingdom’s intelligence services. The meeting evaluated current practices and set up recommendations to improve the agencies’ work, it said. CIA Director Gina Haspel will brief Trump on Thursday on the killing of Khashoggi, White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said after the spy agency chief heard an audio recording of the Saudi journalist’s death.

Haspel traveled to Turkey this week to review intelligence about the Khashoggi incident and heard an audio recording there of his death, sources told Reuters. Representatives for the CIA and Turkish intelligence declined to comment. The United States has revoked visas for a number of Saudis thought to be responsible for Khashoggi’s death in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on Oct 2. Trump was scheduled to receive an intelligence briefing later.

The killing of Khashoggi has sparked global condemnation and mushroomed into a major crisis for the world’s top oil exporter. Trump was quoted by the Wall Street Journal on Tuesday as saying that the crown prince bore ultimate responsibility for the operation that led to Khashoggi’s death. Saudi Arabia’s public prosecutor said on Thursday the murder of Khashoggi was premeditated, reversing previous official statements that the killing was unintended.

The Saudi energy minister said Thursday that foreign companies which boycotted a key investment forum over the murder of Khashoggi have “apologised” and vowed a return to normal ties. “Some companies abstained from the (Future Investment Initiative) conference due to political pressure as a result of an odious campaign directed from outside the Kingdom which has failed,” Khalid al-Falih told state-run Al-Ekhbariya news channel.

“All the companies that abstained have been calling us during the past 48 hours to apologise and express regret,” and vowed to open offices and restore normal relations, Falih said. Finance Minister Mohammed al- Jadaan said on the closing day that the three-day FII held in Riyadh had been “fantastic … and we are very pleased”.

The investment conference, dubbed “Davos in the Desert”, aimed at drawing foreign investors to help Riyadh diversify its oil-reliant economy. But it was overshadowed by a global outcry over the murder of Khashoggi, a Washington Post contributor and critic of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. A long list of investors and international policymakers declined to show up in Riyadh. Siemens chief executive Joe Kaeser, corporate chiefs from JP Morgan, Ford and Uber, and media powerhouses like CNN and the Financial Times all scrapped plans to attend.

Ministers from Britain and France and the United States, also stayed away. On Saturday, more than two weeks after Khashoggi’s disappearance, Riyadh admitted that the Saudi journalist was murdered during “a brawl” inside the Kingdom’s consulate in Istanbul on Oct 2. Prince Mohammed denounced the “repulsive” murder and vowed justice will prevail, in his first public comments on the case at the investment forum on Wednesday. Saudi organisers sought to portray an image of business as usual, announcing 12 “mega deals” worth more than $50 billion in oil, gas, infrastructure and other sectors.

Nadhmi al-Nasr, CEO of NEOM, a Saudi mega city to be built from scratch, said that “tens of meetings” were taking place at the forum “behind closed doors”. “The emphasis of these meetings is: ‘Let’s go, let’s move on.’ The business we are in has not been affected,” he said. In 2017, the government said NEOM – billed as a regional Silicon Valley – would attract $500 billion from the Kingdom’s vast Public Investment Fund, as well as local and international investors.

Top financial market index providers should reconsider their recent decisions to add Saudi Arabia to emerging markets products, New York City’s chief pension fund official said on Wednesday, citing “disturbing allegations” about the Kingdom after the killing of Khashoggi. In letters to three major index providers sent on Wednesday and seen by Reuters, New York City Comptroller Scott Stringer wrote he was concerned that keeping the country in the indexes would expose his funds and others to unsuitable investments. “Saudi Arabia has demonstrated a disdain for the rule of law and international norms of due process and human rights,” creating risks for investors, he wrote. Spokespeople for the three index providers who received the letters, MSCI Inc, FTSE Russell and S&P Dow Jones Indices all declined to comment. Stringer oversees New York City’s roughly $195 billion public pension system, one of the largest in the US. His call marked only the latest move among Western political and financial leaders to distance themselves from Saudi Arabia after the journalist’s death sparked global condemnation. On Wednesday Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman vowed Khashoggi’s killers would be brought to justice, in his first public comments about the matter. Exclusion from the indexes would mark a setback for Saudi Arabia after the world’s top oil producer was upgraded since March by each of the three well-known index providers on the strength of market reforms spearheaded by the ruler widely known as MbS.

The Saudi Stock Exchange had said in September it expected a heavy inflow of foreign money in 2019 – perhaps $20 billion or more – as it joins major emerging markets indexes. A spokesperson for Stringer said the pension system has no direct investments in Saudi companies currently. A public disclosure shows that as of July funds run by his office had $15.5 billion allocated to emerging markets. Index providers had previously said Saudi Arabia would account for around 2.7 percent of emerging markets index products, which would give the city’s funds an exposure to the country of about $420 million. FTSE Russell is owned by London Stock Exchange Group and S&P Dow Jones Indices is part of S&P Global Inc.

 

 

This news has been read 14524 times!

Related Articles

Back to top button

Advt Blocker Detected

Kindly disable the Ad blocker

Verified by MonsterInsights