UN expert to present report before June

A UN judicial expert tasked with investigating the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi said yesterday she would present her report by the end of May.

Agnes Callamard, the UN special rapporteur on extra-judicial, summary or arbitrary executions, carried out an inspection outside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.

Khashoggi, a regime critic, was killed on October 2 at the consulate by a Saudi hit squad which Ankara says was sent from Riyadh for the murder.

Speaking to journalists outside the mission, Callamard said her report would be made public in time for the June session of the UN human rights council.

"The report will be made public a few weeks before I present it to the human rights council in Geneva, so end of May possibly," she said.

Callamard, an independent expert appointed by the United Nations, on Monday met Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu and Justice Minister Abdulhamit Gul in Ankara before travelling to Istanbul.

She was set to meet later yesterday with Istanbul chief prosecutor Irfan Fidan.

Riyadh, after denying the killing for two weeks, finally described it as a "rogue" operation and arrested a number of senior Saudi officials.