Washington: Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir said Sunday the kingdom did not know wher<\/b>
\nWashington: Saudi Arabia\u2019s Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir said Sunday the kingdom did not know where the body of slain journalist Jamal Khashoggi was, despite admitting to the killing and calling it a \u201ctremendous mistake.\u201d
Speaking in an interview on Fox News, Jubeir said the Saudi leadership initially believed Khashoggi had left its diplomatic mission in Istanbul, where he was last seen on October 2.
But following \u201creports we were getting from Turkey,\u201d Saudi authorities began an investigation, which discovered \u201che was killed in the consulate.\u201d
\u201cWe don\u2019t know, in terms of details, how. We don\u2019t know where the body is,\u201d Jubeir said, adding that the Saudi public prosecutor had ordered the detention of 18 individuals, \u201cthe first step in a long journey.\u201d
He termed the killing a \u201ctremendous mistake\u201d but one which the US-Saudi relationship would eventually overcome.
\u201cThe individuals who did this, did this outside the scope of their authority. There obviously was a tremendous mistake made, and what compounded the mistake was the attempt to try to cover up,\u201d Jubeir said.
\u201cThat is unacceptable in any government. These things unfortunately happen. We want to make sure that those who are responsible are punished, and we want to make sure we have procedures in place to prevent it from happening again.\u201d
Jubeir insisted, however, that the operation was not ordered by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, despite reports tying some suspects to members of the de facto ruler\u2019s security detail.
\u2013 \u2018They made a mistake\u2019 \u2013
\u201cThis was an operation that was a rogue operation, this was an operation where individuals ended up exceeding their authorities and responsibilities they had; they made a mistake when they killed Jamal Khashoggi in the consulate and they tried to cover up for it,\u201d he said.
A growing chorus of US lawmakers including several from President Donald Trump\u2019s Republican Party have criticized the Saudi leadership over the affair, but Jubeir was confident the US-Saudi relationship would survive the crisis.
\u201cThe strategic relationship is important for both countries,\u201d he said. \u201cI believe when the investigation is over and the facts are revealed, people know who is responsible and see those individuals punished, that the relationship will weather this.\u201d
He added that Saudi King Salman was \u201cdetermined to see this investigation through, determined to ascertain the facts, determined to hold those responsible accountable and determined to put in place policies and procedures in the security services to prevent something like this from ever happening again.\u201d<\/p>\n

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