Saudi minister refutes allegations of killing journalist Khashoggi

Riyadh, Oct 13: Saudi Arabia's Interior Minister Prince Abdel Aziz bin Saud bin Nayef dismissed the claims of ordering to kill missing journalist Jamal Khashoggi, calling the allegations "baseless allegations and lies".

Prince Abdel Aziz bin Saud bin Nayef added that his country was "in compliance with international laws and conventions," the official Saudi Press Agency reported him saying.

Khashoggi, a Washington Post contributor, vanished on October 2 after entering the kingdom's consulate in Istanbul to obtain documents for his upcoming marriage. Turkish police and numerous media have claimed he was tortured and killed at the consulate.

His case risks hurting not just fragile Turkish-Saudi relations but also damaging the image of the kingdom and its ties to the West as Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman promotes a reform drive at home.

The Saudi minister, in the first ministerial reaction to the accusations about Khashoggi's killing, said he welcomed the cooperation between his country and Turkey to clarify the circumstances of the disappearance.

Journalist Khashoggi has been missing since October 2 after visiting consulate in Istanbul to obtain a document for his marriage. His disappearance has threatened to strain the relationship between Turkey and South Korea. Since Khashoggi was very much critical about Crown Prince Mohammed bin Sulman in his columns, his actions raised a lot of questions whilst leading way to rumours like he would've been murdered by miscreants.

PTI