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No final conclusion on Khashoggi killing: State Department

IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency

Tehran, Nov 18, IRNA -- The United States government has not reached a final conclusion over Khashoggi's killing, the US State Department has said.

'Recent reports indicating that the US government has made a final conclusion are inaccurate,' State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said in a statement on Saturday.

The statement followed reports in the US media that the CIA had held Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman responsible for the October 2 killing, according to Aljazeera news network.

There remain numerous unanswered questions with respect to the murder of Mr Khashoggi,' Nauert said in her statement.

'The State Department will continue to seek all relevant facts. In the meantime, we will continue to consult Congress, and work with other nations to hold accountable those involved in the killing of Jamal Khashoggi.'

The Washington Post says the CIA has concluded that the Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman did give the order to kill the journalist.

The American spy agency is not commenting on the reports. Meanwhile, the Saudi embassy in Washington says the CIA assessment is false.

If not, the CIA finding is the first direct confirmation of the crown prince's involvement after Turkey said the order to kill came from the highest level in the kingdom.

Saudi Arabia has admitted Jamal Khashoggi was killed inside its consulate in the Turkish city of Istanbul.

Khashoggi - a Saudi writer, US resident and Washington Post columnist - entered the building on October 2 to obtain documentation certifying he had divorced his ex-wife so he could remarry.

After weeks of repeated denials that it had anything to do with his disappearance, the kingdom eventually acknowledged that the murder was premeditated. The whereabouts of his body are still unknown.

The 'hit-squad' sent from Saudi Arabia to murder Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi in Istanbul planned out their assassination methodically, contradicting key findings from the Saudi public prosecutor's office, a Turkish newspaper has reported.

Abdulkadir Selvi, a columnist at Hurriyet, said Turkish authorities had a 15-minute audio recording where the Saudi team could be heard discussing and reviewing their plan, and reminding each other of their duties.

'There is also evidence from the period after the killing. Turkey has the international phone calls made by the 15-member Saudi hit squad,' he wrote.

Selvi said the strongest evidence of the premeditated nature of the killing could be heard in a seven minute audio recording he reported on last month.

In that recording, Khashoggi's 'desperate attempts to survive' could be heard.

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