Egypt’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs released a statement on Thursday that Egypt reaffirms its trust in Saudi investigations into the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
“Egypt has closely followed the Saudi judicial authorities’ statement of November 15 on the results of the investigation into the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi that have shown that the kingdom was serious and acted transparently in search of truth … Egypt reiterates one more time that it fully trusts the Saudi prosecutors and the results of the probe,” the foreign ministry said in a statement.
The statement also called for all involved parties to refrain from politicising the case and to “abide by the current course of investigations,” adding that Egypt “appreciates the actions taken by Saudi Arabia in this case.”
On Thursday, the Saudi Prosecutor General’s Office demanded the death penalty for five defendants accused in the Khashoggi murder case. The authorities also detained 21 people and charged 11 suspects in the case.
Saudi government lawyer Shalaan Bin Shalaan said officials will seek death sentences for five of the suspects charged with ordering and carrying out the crime.
Shalaan told reporters in Riyadh that Khashoggi’s “presence abroad represented a threat to the Saudi kingdom.”
He said deputy intelligence chief Ahmed al Assiri formed a team to travel to Istanbul to try to persuade the reporter to return home.
Saudi government lawyer Shalaan Bin Shalaan said that deputy intelligence chief Ahmed al Assiri formed a team to travel to Istanbul to try to persuade the reporter to return home, as he represented a threat to the Saudi kingdom.
However, after this operation failed, Khashoggi was killed in the process after being “forcibly restrained and injected with a large amount of a drug resulting in an overdose.” Shalaan added that the crown prince “did not have knowledge about” the operation.
Khashoggi, a US-based Saudi journalist, went missing after visiting the Saudi consulate in Turkey on October 2. The Saudi authorities acknowledged in late October that the journalist had been killed inside the diplomatic mission’s building.
Turkey claims that the Saudi statement in the case is insufficient and is carrying out its own independent investigation.
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[…] Egyptian Ministry of Foreign affairs reaffirmed its trust in the process and accountability of the Saudi investigation, citing that the thorough […]