WASHINGTON - The United States on Thursday placed punishing economic sanctions on 17 Saudis allegedly involved in the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, including top aides of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
The sanctions were declared after Riyadh's public prosecutor announced that five officials face a possible death sentence in the case but exculpated the prince.
"The Saudi officials we are sanctioning were involved in the abhorrent killing of Jamal Khashoggi. These individuals who targeted and brutally killed a journalist who resided and worked in the United States must face consequences for their actions," said Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin.
The sanctions came amid widespread anger among Saudi allies over the killing and dismemberment of Khashoggi on October 2 in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, Turkey.
Khashoggi, 59, was a veteran Saudi journalist who wrote for the Washington Post and other international media. He had become one of the leading public critics of Prince Mohammed, whose father is the Saudi king.
The 17 included Saud Al-Qahtani and Maher Mutreb, key aides of the powerful prince, and Mohammed Alotaibi, who was the consul general in the Istanbul consulate when Khashoggi was murdered.
The US Treasury said Qahtani, Prince Mohammed's long-time right-hand man, "was part of the planning and execution of the operation" to kill Khashoggi.
But it did not point any fingers at Prince Mohammed, who the Saudi government has insisted did not order the killing.
The sanctions, which fall under the US Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act, freeze any assets those blacklisted have under US jurisdiction, and forbid Americans and US companies from doing business with them.
Under heavy pressure from the United States, Britain, France and Turkey, Riyadh has admitted that Khashoggi was murdered in the consulate and said it would punish those involved.
Earlier Thursday the state prosecutor's office announced that 21 individuals had been taken into custody and charges set against 11 of them.
Five of them face possible execution for the murder, according to the prosecutor.
Mnuchin said Washington would persist in pressuring Riyadh for justice in the case.
"The United States continues to diligently work to ascertain all of the facts and will hold accountable each of those we find responsible in order to achieve justice for Khashoggi's fiancée, children, and the family he leaves behind," he said in a statement.
"The Government of Saudi Arabia must take appropriate steps to end any targeting of political dissidents or journalists."
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6:18 pm
Saudi FM rejects international probe into Khashoggi death
RIYADH - Saudi Arabia's foreign minister on Thursday dismissed Turkey's demand for an international inquiry into the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.
Riyadh has its own "investigative body" and would "reject" an independent investigation into the killing of Khashoggi, who had been "heavily drugged" before being dismembered, Minister Adel al-Jubeir said.
"This is now a legal case and is thus in the hands of Saudi Arabia's judiciary," Jubeir told reporters in Riyadh.
Turkish officials have cast doubt on whether Saudi Arabia was willing to genuinely cooperate with authorities on the murder of Khashoggi, a Washington Post contributor and critic of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu on Wednesday called for the international investigation into the October 2 killing of Khashoggi.
"In the beginning we said we formed a working group with Saudi Arabia and that we had no plans to take the (murder) to international court," Cavusoglu told parliament.
But he added that was not the case any more and the government now believed "an international investigation is a must."
"We will do whatever is needed to shed light on all its aspects of this murder," Cavusoglu said.
Saudi Arabia on Thursday made its first official admission that Khashoggi had been dismembered inside its Istanbul consulate, and said it was seeking the death penalty against five people accused of the murder.
But Jubeir said Prince Mohammed, the powerful 33-year-old heir to the throne, had "absolutely" nothing to do with the killing.
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3:44 pm
Saudi seeks Turkey cooperation deal on Khashoggi probe
ISTANBUL, Turkey — Turkey on Thursday said the Saudi statement over the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi was "insufficient" and insisted that the killing was "premeditated."
"We find all those steps positive but insufficient," Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said in a televised speech.
His comments came shortly after Saudi Arabia admitted that 59-year-old Khashoggi was drugged and dismembered inside the kingdom's Istanbul consulate last month.
Riyadh's public prosecutor said the journalist's body parts were then handed over to an agent outside the consulate grounds and that five Saudi officials were facing the death penalty over the murder.
"I want to say personally that I don't find some of the statements satisfactory," Cavusoglu said. "This murder was premeditated."
Khashoggi, a Washington Post columnist and critic of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, was last seen stepping into the doors of the Istanbul consulate to obtain paperwork for his marriage to a Turkish woman.
Turkey has said he was murdered and his body was cut into pieces. After denials, Riyadh admitted that the man was killed in a "rogue" operation.
On Thursday, a spokesman for the Saudi public prosecutor's office said the deputy chief of Saudi intelligence, General Ahmed al-Assiri, had given an order to force Khashoggi home -- and "the head of the negotiating team" that flew to Istanbul had ordered his murder.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said the order came from "the highest levels" of the Riyadh government, but stopped short of pointing the finger of blame at the Saudi crown prince.
Cavusoglu said: "Those who gave the command as well as instigators should also be clarified and this process should not be covered up."
He said Turkey would continue to do what was necessary "to shed light on this murder in all its aspects."
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