UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is “deeply troubled” by the confirmation by Riyadh of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi’s death, a United Nations spokesman said on Friday.
The UN chief called for a “prompt, thorough, transparent” probe into the circumstances of Khashoggi’s death and urged full accountability for those who were involved, Reuters reported.
Saudi Arabia claimed on Saturday that Khashoggi died in a fight inside its Istanbul consulate and that it fired two senior officials over his death, an account President Donald Trump said was credible but US lawmakers found hard to believe.
Saudi Arabia’s acknowledgment that Khashoggi died in the consulate came after two weeks of denials that it had anything to do with his disappearance, and followed growing demands from Western allies for an explanation of what happened.
Saudi state media said King Salman had ordered the dismissal of two senior officials: Saud al-Qahtani, a royal court advisor seen as the right-hand man to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, and deputy intelligence chief Ahmed Asiri, a statement on state media said, Reuters reported.
Saudi Arabia provided no evidence to support its account of the circumstances that led to Khashoggi’s death.
