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The Saudi government categorically rejects what was stated in the report provided to US Congress regarding the murder of Jamal Khashoggi, according to a statement published by the Kingdom’s Foreign Ministry.
“The Kingdom’s government categorically rejects the abusive and incorrect conclusions contained in the report about the Kingdom’s leadership and cannot be accepted in any way, and that the report included a set of information and other incorrect conclusions,” the foreign ministry said in a statement.
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“The Kingdom also confirms what was previously issued in this regard by the competent authorities in the Kingdom that this is a heinous crime that constituted a flagrant violation of the Kingdom’s laws and values committed by a group that violated all regulations and violated the powers of the agencies in which they were working,” the foreign ministry added.
Khashoggi was murdered on October 20, 2018, after a fistfight broke out at the Saudi Arabian consulate in Istanbul, Saudi Arabia’s public prosecutor had said at the time. He was visiting the consulate to complete paperwork related to his divorce.
At the time, Saudi Arabian authorities arrested 18 Saudis for investigation in connection with events surrounding Khashoggi’s murder.
The statement added that “all necessary judicial measures have been taken to investigate them and bring them to justice, and final court rulings were issued against them, and the Khashoggi family had welcomed them.”
The sons of the late Khashoggi said last May said that they have pardoned the killers of their father. A Saudi Arabian court in December 2019 sentenced five people to death for the murder of Khashoggi, and three others were sentenced to a total of 24 years in jail.
Saudi Arabia’s foreign ministry said the release of the US intelligence report was “truly regrettable” and that it included “wrong and unjustified conclusions.”
“It is truly regrettable that such a report and the wrong and unjustified conclusions it contained were issued at a time when the Kingdom condemned this heinous crime and its leadership took the necessary steps to ensure that such an unfortunate incident would not be repeated in the future,” the statement read.
The Foreign Ministry said the Kingdom rejects any matter that would “prejudice its leadership, sovereignty and independence of its judiciary.”
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs affirmed that the partnership between Saudi Arabia and the United States in its statement released on Friday.
“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs affirms that the partnership between the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the United States of America is a strong and solid partnership over the past eight decades on solid foundations based on mutual respect, and institutions in the two countries are working to strengthen them in various fields, and to intensify coordination and cooperation between them to achieve security and stability in the region and the world. We hope that these solid foundations, which formed a strong framework for the two countries’ strategic partnership, will continue,” the foreign ministry said.
Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman told CBS “60 Minutes” in 2019 that he takes “full responsibility” for the grisly murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi but denied allegations that he ordered it.
“When a crime is committed against a Saudi citizen by officials, working for the Saudi government, as a leader I must take responsibility. This was a mistake. And I must take all actions to avoid such a thing in the future,” he said at the time.
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