The US State Department is to revoke visas or make them unobtainable for 21 Saudis following the killing of Jamal Khashoggi in Turkey. President Donald Trump said the Saudis staged the "worst cover-up ever."
Image: Reuters/K. Lamarque
Advertisement
US President Donald Trump described the cover-up by Saudi Arabia of the killing of Jamal Khashoggi in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on October 2 as "a total fiasco," as the US State Department revoked visas or imposed entry restrictions on 21 Saudi nationals over the incident.
"There should have never been an execution or a cover-up, because it should have never happened," Trump told reporters at the White House on Tuesday.
"Bad deal, should have never been thought of," Trump said, adding: "Somebody really messed up. And they had the worst cover-up ever."
The Saudi consul's residence in IstanbulImage: Reuters/File Photo/O. Orsal
Following the US lead, London also imposed visa restrictions on the suspects in the Khashoggi case.
"The Home Secretary is taking action against all suspects to prevent them entering the UK. If these individuals currently have visas, those visas will be revoked today," Prime Minister Theresa May told UK lawmakers on Wednesday.
"There does remain an urgent need to establish exactly what has happened in relation to this ... I myself expect to speak to King Salman later today."
While 82-year-old King Salman remains the Saudi head of state, the power has shifted to his son, Mohammed bin Salman, due to the king's declining health. The crown prince denies involvement in the Khashoggi killing.
After talking to Mohammed bin Salman on Tuesday, Trump said that the prince "strongly said that he had nothing to do with this, this was at a lower level."
Previously, Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had dismissed Saudi attempts to blame Khashoggi's death on rogue operatives. He urged Riyadh to search "from top to bottom" to find those responsible.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the US had identified some individuals in the Saudi government and security officials they believed were involved. Appropriate action — including revoking visas for some, and making others ineligible should they apply for a visa. Most of the 21 people on the US list have US visas, an official told Reuters.
"We're making very clear that the United States does not tolerate this kind of ruthless action to silence Mr Khashoggi, a journalist, through violence,” Pompeo said. "Neither the President nor I am happy with this situation."
Mohammed bin Salman was due to speak at the summit on Wednesday in his first public comments since the murder of Khashoggi.
No Saudi grudges against conference dropouts
03:04
This browser does not support the video element.
More sanctions to come?
Pompeo emphasized, as Trump had done before him, the importance of the US-Saudi relationship. However, he also said: "These penalties will not be the last word on this matter from the United States."
So far, 18 people have been arrested in Saudi Arabia and five senior government officials have been dismissed as part of an investigation into Khashoggi's death.
It is believed that Turkey has audio of the events inside the consulate, which it is yet to release. Security sources in Ankara say when Khashoggi entered the building in Istanbul he was seized by 15 Saudi intelligence operatives who had flown in on two jets just a few hours before.
Meanwhile, Turkish investigators were due to search a well in the garden of the Saudi consulate, after the Saudi side temporarily denied them access.
Jamal Khashoggi: A mysterious disappearance and death
Official Saudi statements on the fate of journalist Jamal Khashoggi have changed several times since he disappeared at the Istanbul consulate on October 2. DW traces the most important events in this intricate case.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/J. Martin
Vanishes into thin air
October 2: Prominent journalist Jamal Khashoggi was last seen entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, where he had gone to obtain an official document for his upcoming marriage to his Turkish fiancee, Hatice Cengiz. He never emerged from the building, prompting Cengiz, who waited outside, to raise the alarm.
Image: Reuters TV
Confusion over whereabouts
October 3: Turkish and Saudi officials came up with conflicting reports on Khashoggi's whereabouts. Riyadh said the journalist had left the mission shortly after his work was done. But Turkish presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kalin said the journalist was still in the consulate.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/V. Mayo
Murder claims
October 6: Turkish officials said they believed the journalist was likely killed inside the Saudi consulate. The Washington Post, for which Khashoggi wrote, cited unnamed sources to report that Turkish investigators believe a 15-member team "came from Saudi Arabia" to kill the man.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/H. Jamali
Ankara seeks proof
October 8: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called on Saudi Arabia to prove that Khashoggi left its consulate in Istanbul. Turkey also sought permission to search the mission premises. US President Donald Trump voiced concern about the journalist's disappearance.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/T. Kovacs
'Davos in the Desert' hit
October 12: British billionaire Richard Branson halted talks over a $1 billion Saudi investment in his Virgin group's space ventures, citing Khashoggi's case. He also pulled out of an investment conference in Riyadh dubbed the "Davos in the Desert." His move was followed by Uber's Dara Khosrowshahi, JP Morgan's Jamie Dimon and a host of other business leaders.
Image: picture alliance/dpa
Search operation
October 15: Turkish investigators searched the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. The search lasted more than eight hours and investigators removed samples from the building, including soil from the consulate garden and a metal door, one official said.
Image: Reuters/M. Sezer
Death after fistfight
October 19: Saudi Arabia finally admitted that Khashoggi died at the consulate. The kingdom's public prosecutor said preliminary investigations showed the journalist was killed in a "fistfight." He added that 18 people had been detained. A Saudi Foreign Ministry official said the country is "investigating the regrettable and painful incident."
Image: Getty Images/C. McGrath
'Grave mistake'
October 21: Saudi Arabia provided yet another account of what happened to Khashoggi. The kingdom's foreign minister admitted the journalist was killed in a "rogue operation," calling it a "huge and grave mistake," but insisted that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman had not been aware of the murder. Riyadh said it had no idea where Khashoggi's body was.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/C. Owen
Germany halts arms sales
October 21: German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Germany would put arms exports to Saudi Arabia on hold for the time being, given the unexplained circumstances of Khashoggi's death. Germany is the fourth largest exporter of weapons to Saudi Arabia after the United States, Britain and France.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/S. Sauer
Strangled to death, dissolved in acid
October 31: The Turkish prosecutor concluded that Khashoggi was strangled to death soon after entering the consulate, and was then dismembered. Another Turkish official later claimed the body was dissolved in acid. Turkish President Erdogan said the order to murder the journalist came from "the highest levels" of Saudi Arabia's government.
Image: picture-alliance/AA/M. E. Yildirim
Grilled at the UN
November 5: Saudi Arabia told the United Nations it would prosecute those responsible for Khashoggi's murder. This came as the United States and dozens of other countries raised the journalist's death before the UN Human Rights Council and called for a transparent investigation.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/F. Coffrini
Fiancee in mourning
November 8: Khashoggi's fiancee, Hatice Cengiz, wrote on Twitter that she was "unable to express her sorrow" upon learning that the journalist's body was dissolved with chemicals. "Are these killers and those behind it human beings?" she tweeted.
Image: Reuters/Haberturk
Turkey shares audio recordings
November 10: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan reveals that officials from Saudi Arabia, the US, Germany, France and Britain have listened to audio recordings related to the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/Presidential Press Service
Symbolic funeral prayers
November 16: A symbolic funeral prayer for Khashoggi is held in the courtyard of the Fatih Mosque in Istanbul. Yasin Aktay, advisor to President Erdogan, speaks at the service.
Image: Reuters/M. Sezer
Saudi-owned villas searched
November 26: Turkish forensic police bring the investigation to the Turkish province of Yalova, where sniffer dogs and drones search two Saudi-owned villas in the village Samanli.
Image: Reuters/O . Orsal
100 days since killing
January 10: Amnesty International Turkey members demonstrate outside the Saudi Arabia Consulate in Istanbul, marking 100 day since the killing of Jamal Khashoggi. One woman holds up a street sign which reads "Jamal Khashoggi Street". The organization has called for an international investigation into the case.
Image: Reuters/M. Sezer
Saudi murder trial begins
January 3: The Khashoggi trial begins in Saudi Arabia, where state prosecutors say they will seek the death sentence for five of the eleven suspects. A request for the gathered evidence has been send to Turkish authorities. A date for the second hearing has not yet been set.
Image: picture-alliance/abaca/Depo Photos
UN inquiry team in Turkey
January 28: Agnes Callamard, who is leading the UN probe into the handling of the Khashoggi case, arrives in Ankara where she meets with Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu. The human rights expect will stay in the country for the rest of the week to speak with prosecutors and others involved in the case.
