Saudi crown prince calls Khashoggi murder 'repulsive'
Riyadh, Oct 24: Saudi Arabia's crown prince Wednesday denounced the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi and vowed justice would prevail, without addressing US accusations of a botched cover-up over the killing by the Gulf kingdom.
After phoning Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to discuss the October 2 killing in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul which has triggered an international diplomatic crisis, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman pledged there would be "no rupture" in ties with Ankara.
"The incident was very painful for all Saudis, it's a repulsive incident and no one can justify it," Prince Mohammed bin Salman said in his first comments since the journalist's murder.
"Those responsible will be held accountable... in the end justice will prevail," the heir apparent to the Saudi throne told a major investment forum in Riyadh, speaking in Arabic in his first public comments on the scandal.
Three weeks since Khashoggi, a Saudi citizen living in self-imposed exile, disappeared after walking into the consulate to get some marriage documents the crisis shows no signs of abating.
Washington moved late Tuesday to revoke the visas of a number of Saudis even though the two countries have long been allies, with Britain following suit on Wednesday.
Saudi leaders have denied involvement in Khashoggi's murder, pushing responsibility down the chain of command.
But Turkey has been leading their own investigation and Erdogan said the killing was meticulously planned, calling for 18 Saudis who have been detained by Saudi authorities to be tried in Istanbul.
Erdogan spoke with Prince Mohammed in their first telephone conversation since the killing, a Turkish presidential source said.
The two discussed "the issue of joint efforts and the steps that need to be taken in order to shed light on the Jamal Khashoggi murder in all its aspects," the source added.
Speaking at the investment forum, Prince Mohammed said: "Many are trying to exploit the Khashoggi affair to drive a wedge between Saudi Arabia and Turkey".
"But they will not succeed as long as there is a king named Salman and a crown prince named Mohammed bin Salman." Since becoming heir apparent last year, Prince Mohammed has won plaudits for reforms including to end a decades-long ban on women drivers.
But his image has been tarnished by Khashoggi's murder despite repeated denials he had any involvement. And Riyadh's changing narrative has triggered deep scepticism abroad.
US President Donald Trump said the Saudis had a "very bad original concept" in killing the 59-year-old Saudi insider-turned-critic.
"It was carried out poorly and the cover-up was one of the worst in the history of cover-ups," Trump said.
Trump for the first time also appeared to indicate Prince Mohammed may have had a role in the Khashoggi case, telling the Wall Street Journal: "Well, the prince is running things over there more... so if anybody were going to be, it would be him."
The conference, nicknamed "Davos in the desert" aimed at drumming up funds to help Riyadh diversify its oil-reliant economy, has been overshadowed by the outcry over Khashoggi's murder with an array of big names pulling out of the event.
Faced with mounting calls for tough measures by US lawmakers across the political spectrum, the State Department said it had identified 21 Saudis whose visas would either be revoked or who would be ineligible for future visas.
"We are making very clear that the United States does not tolerate this kind of action to silence Mr Khashoggi, a journalist, through violence," US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said.
British Prime Minister Teresa May said Britain was "taking action against all suspects to prevent them entering the UK. If these individuals currently have visas, those visas will be revoked today".
France also weighed in, saying it would take "punitive measures" if Saudi Arabia was "proven" to be behind the murder.
Turkish pro-government media reported Wednesday that Turkish intelligence had shared "all the evidence" with the CIA gathered from its investigation into the killing of the Washington Post columnist.
The evidence included video and audio recordings from the consulate and the consul's residence and were shared with visiting CIA chief Gina Haspel, Sabah newspaper reported.
The whereabouts of Khashoggi's corpse is still unknown.
State media in Turkey said Wednesday that Saudi authorities had denied permission to Turkish police to search a well in the consulate's garden.
Erdogan vowed Turkey would not allow the culprits to get away with their "savage murder".
"It is not over yet," he said. "We are unravelling, dismantling (the case) and the world is closely following."
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Netanyahu recommends his Cabinet approve Hezbollah cease-fire proposal
Beirut, Nov 26: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Tuesday that he would recommend his cabinet adopt a United States-brokered ceasefire agreement with Lebanon's Hezbollah, as Israeli warplanes struck across Lebanon, killing at least 23 people.
The Israeli military also issued a flurry of evacuation warnings — a sign it was aiming to inflict punishment on Hezbollah down to the final moments before any ceasefire takes hold. For the first time in the conflict, Israeli ground troops reached parts of Lebanon's Litani River, a focal point of the emerging deal.
In a televised statement, Netanyahu said he would present the ceasefire to Cabinet ministers later on Tuesday, setting the stage for an end to nearly 14 months of fighting.
Netanyahu said the vote was expected later Tuesday. It was not immediately clear when the ceasefire would go into effect, and the exact terms of the deal were not released. The deal does not affect Israel's war against Hamas in Gaza, which shows no signs of ending.
The evacuation warnings covered many areas, including parts of Beirut that previously have not been targeted. The warnings, coupled with fear that Israel was ratcheting up attacks before a ceasefire, sent residents fleeing. Traffic was gridlocked, and some cars had mattresses tied to them. Dozens of people, some wearing their pajamas, gathered in a central square, huddling under blankets or standing around fires as Israeli drones buzzed loudly overhead.
Hezbollah, meanwhile, kept up its rocket fire, triggering air raid sirens across northern Israel.
Lebanese officials have said Hezbollah also supports the deal. If approved by all sides, the deal would be a major step toward ending the Israel-Hezbollah war that has inflamed tensions across the region and raised fears of an even wider conflict between Israel and Hezbollah's patron, Iran.
The deal calls for a two-month initial halt in fighting and would require Hezbollah to end its armed presence in a broad swath of southern Lebanon, while Israeli troops would return to their side of the border. Thousands of Lebanese troops and UN peacekeepers would deploy in the south, and an international panel headed by the United States would monitor all sides' compliance.
But implementation remains a major question mark. Israel has demanded the right to act should Hezbollah violate its obligations. Lebanese officials have rejected writing that into the proposal. Israel's Defense Minister Israel Katz insisted on Tuesday that the military would strike Hezbollah if the U.N. peacekeeping force, known as UNIFIL, doesn't provide “effective enforcement” of the deal.
“If you don't act, we will act, and with great force,” Katz said, speaking with UN special envoy Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert.
The European Union's top diplomat, Josep Borrell, said Tuesday that Israel's security concerns had been addressed in the deal also brokered by France.
“There is not an excuse for not implementing a ceasefire. Otherwise, Lebanon will fall apart,” Borrell told reporters in Italy on the sidelines of a Group of Seven meeting. He said France would participate on the ceasefire implementation committee at Lebanon's request.
Bombardment of Beirut's southern suburbs continues
Even as Israeli, US, Lebanese and international officials have expressed growing optimism over a ceasefire, Israel has continued its campaign in Lebanon, which it says aims to cripple Hezbollah's military capabilities.
An Israeli strike on Tuesday levelled a residential building in the central Beirut district of Basta — the second time in recent days warplanes have hit the crowded area near the city's downtown. At least seven people were killed and 37 wounded, according to Lebanon's Health Ministry.
Three people were killed in a separate strike in Beirut and three in a strike on a Palestinian refugee camp in southern Lebanon. Lebanese state media said another 10 people were killed in the eastern Baalbek province. Israel says it targets Hezbollah fighters and their infrastructure.
Earlier, Israeli jets struck at least six buildings in Beirut's southern suburbs. One strike slammed near the country's only airport, sending plumes of smoke into the sky. The airport has continued to function despite its location on the Mediterranean coast next to the densely populated suburbs where many of Hezbollah's operations are based.
Israeli military spokesman Avichay Adraee issued evacuation warnings for 20 buildings in the suburbs, as well as a warning for the southern town of Naqoura where UNIFIL is headquartered.
UNIFIL spokesperson Andrea Tenenti told The Associated Press that peacekeepers will not evacuate.
Other strikes hit in the southern city of Tyre, where the Israeli military said it killed a local Hezbollah commander.
The Israeli military also said its ground troops clashed with Hezbollah forces and destroyed rocket launchers in the Slouqi area on the eastern end of the Litani River, a few kilometres from the Israeli border.
Previous ceasefire hopes were dashed
Under the ceasefire deal, Hezbollah would be required to move its forces north of the Litani, which in some places is about 30 kilometers (20 miles) north of the border.
A ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah, the strongest Iranian-backed force in the region, would likely significantly calm regional tensions that have led to fears of a direct, all-out war between Israel and Iran. It's not clear how the ceasefire will affect the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza. Hezbollah had long insisted that it would not agree to a ceasefire until the war in Gaza ends, but it dropped that condition.
Hezbollah began firing into northern Israel, saying it was showing support for the Palestinians, a day after Hamas carried out its Oct. 7, 2023, attack on southern Israel, triggering the Gaza war. Israel returned fire on Hezbollah, and the two sides have been exchanging barrages ever since.
Israel escalated its campaign of bombardment in mid-September and later sent troops into Lebanon, vowing to put an end to Hezbollah fire so tens of thousands of evacuated Israelis could return to their homes.
More than 3,760 people have been killed by Israeli fire in Lebanon the past 13 months, many of them civilians, according to Lebanese health officials. The bombardment has driven 1.2 million people from their homes. Israel says it has killed more than 2,000 Hezbollah members.
Hezbollah fire has forced some 50,000 Israelis to evacuate in the country's north, and its rockets have reached as far south in Israel as Tel Aviv. At least 75 people have been killed, more than half of them civilians. More than 50 Israeli soldiers have died in the ground offensive in Lebanon.
After previous hopes for a ceasefire were dashed, U.S. officials cautioned that negotiations were not yet complete and noted there could be last-minute hitches that delay or destroy an agreement.
“Nothing is done until everything is done,” White House national security spokesman John Kirby said.
While the ceasefire proposal is expected to be approved if Netanyahu brings it to a vote in his security Cabinet, one hard-line member, National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, said he would oppose it. He said on X that a deal with Lebanon would be a “big mistake” and a “missed historic opportunity to eradicate Hezbollah.”
