Journo killing grave mistake

Saudi Arabia called the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi at its Istanbul consulate a "huge and grave mistake," but sought to shield its powerful crown prince from the widening crisis, saying Mohammed bin Salman had not been aware.

The comments from Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir were some of the most direct yet from Riyadh, which has given multiple and conflicting accounts about Khashoggi's killing on October 2, first denying his death and later admitting it amid an international outcry.

"This was an operation that was a rogue operation. This was an operation where individuals ended up exceeding the authorities and responsibilities they had," Jubeir said on the US broadcaster Fox News on Sunday.

"They made the mistake when they killed Jamal Khashoggi in the consulate and they tried to cover up for it," he said.

The weeks of denial and lack of credible evidence in the face of allegations from Turkish officials that Khashoggi had been killed have shaken global confidence in ties with the world's top oil exporter.

US Treasury Secretary Stephen Mnuchin said Saudi Arabia's admission that the Washington Post columnist was killed in a fistfight was a "good first step but not enough," though he added it was premature to discuss sanctions against Riyadh.

Three European powers - Germany, Britain and France - pressed Riyadh to provide facts, and Chancellor Angela Merkel said Germany would not export arms to Saudi Arabia while uncertainty over Khashoggi's fate persisted, reported Reuters.

Late on Sunday, the Saudi Press Agency said both Saudi King Salman and Prince Mohammed had called Khashoggi's son, Salah, to express condolences.

'BODY DOUBLE'

A member of the 15-man team suspected in the death of Khashoggi dressed up in his clothes and was captured on surveillance cameras around Istanbul on the day the journalist was killed, a senior Turkish official has told CNN.

CNN has obtained exclusive law enforcement surveillance footage, part of the Turkish government's investigation, that appears to show the man leaving the consulate by the back door, wearing Khashoggi's clothes, a fake beard, and glasses.

The same man was seen in Khashoggi's clothing, according to the Turkish case, at the city's world-famous Blue Mosque just hours after the journalist was last seen alive entering the consulate on October 2.

The man in the video, identified by the official as Mustafa al-Madani, was allegedly part of what investigators have said was a hit squad, sent to kill the journalist at the Saudi consulate during a scheduled appointment to get papers for his upcoming wedding.

'SAVAGELY PLANNED'

The murder of Khashoggi inside Riyadh's Istanbul consulate was "savagely planned", Turkey's ruling party spokesman said yesterday, the first official indication from Ankara it believes a plot was hatched in advance.

"This was extremely savagely planned, and we are faced with a situation where there has been a lot of effort to whitewash this," Justice and Development Party (AKP) spokesman Omer Celik told reporters in Ankara.

"This is a very complicated murder," Celik said, warning that the Turkish government would not be drawn into speculation. "Everyone (else) can speculate but we cannot speculate," Celik added.

He also dismissed claims of "bargaining" between Saudi Arabia and Turkey as "immoral".

Turkish pro-government media has said the Saudi team interrogated, tortured and decapitated Khashoggi but a pro-government columnist Abdulkadir Selvi yesterday wrote in Hurriyet daily that Khashoggi was strangled to death before he was cut up into 15 pieces.

ERDOGAN TO SPEAK

In a speech on Sunday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan appeared to suggest he was getting ready to release some information about the Turkish investigation, and would do so at his weekly speech today to members of his ruling AK Party.

Erdogan has remained largely silent on the case, although Turkey's pro-government newspapers have released information about events at the consulate.

Turkey's Anadolu agency said early yesterday that Erdogan and Trump had spoken on the telephone and agreed that "all aspects" of the case needed to be cleared up.

Some governments and prominent executives have said they would pull out of a forthcoming investment conference in Saudi Arabia.

The chief executive of German industrial conglomerate Siemens Joe Kaeser said yesterday he would withdraw from the Saudi investment summit.

"It's the cleanest decision but not the most courageous one," Kaeser wrote in a post on social network LinkedIn of his choice not to attend the Future Investment Initiative (FII).