Saudi Arabia rejects 'baseless allegations' of Khashoggi murder

RIYADH: Saudi Arabia's minister of interior, Prince Abdulaziz bin Saud bin Naif  on Saturday denounced the "false accusations" being circulated in some media outlets linking the Saudi government and people to the disappearance of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

News reports about orders to kill Khashoggi "are lies and baseless allegations", the minister said in a statement carried by the Saudi Press Agency (SPA).

The minister added that his country was "in compliance with international laws and conventions," the official Saudi Press Agency reported him as saying.

Prince Abdulaziz noted that Saudi Arabia and Turkey have agree to conduct a joint investigation and it is important for the media to report only the facts and "not to affect the paths of investigation and judicial proceedings."

Khashoggi, a Washington Post contributor, has been missing since Oct 2, when he reportedly visited the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul to secure divorce papers.

Turkey said on Thursday it had accepted a proposal from Saudi Arabia to cooperate on the investigation.

A security delegation consisting of Saudi investigators arrived in Istanbul on Saturday to participate in the investigations.

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.