RIYADH – The case of the disappearance of the citizen Jamal Bin Ahmed Khashoggi was taken notice of at the highest levels by the Saudi authorities, and due to the circumstances surrounding his disappearance the Kingdom took the necessary steps to unearth the truth and began by dispatching a security team to Turkey on Oct. 6 to investigate and cooperate with counterparts in Turkey, an official source said in a statement, according to the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) Friday night.

It was followed by the formation of a joint security team between the Kingdom and Turkey, with permission given to the Turkish security authorities to enter the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul and the residence of the Consul, due to the Kingdom's keenness to clarify all the facts. The measures followed Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman’s directives to the Public Prosecutor of Saudi Arabia, No. 5709 dated 3/2/1440H, to conduct investigations into the case.

The Public Prosecutor has already investigated a number of suspects on the basis of information provided by the Turkish authorities to the Joint Security Team to determine whether any of them had any information or had any knowledge of what had happened, or whether information was conveyed to the security authorities that indicated that the citizen Jamal Khashoggi had left the consulate.

In implementation of the directives of the leadership on the need to clearly establish the truth and declare it transparently, the preliminary investigations conducted by the Public Prosecution showed that the suspects had traveled to Istanbul to meet with the citizen Jamal Khashoggi, as there were indications of the possibility of the latter returning to the country.

The results of the preliminary investigations also revealed the suspects’ discussions with the citizen Jamal Khashoggi in the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul did not go as planned and led to a fight and a quarrel between some of them and Khashoggi. The brawl led to Khashoggi’s death and their attempt to conceal and cover what had happened.

The source added that while the investigations are still going on into the case with 18 Saudi detainees, the Kingdom expresses its deep regret at the painful developments that have taken place and stresses the commitment of the authorities in the Kingdom to bring the facts to the public, to hold all those involved accountable and bring them to justice by referring them to the competent courts in Saudi Arabia. – SPA