Saudis don’t know where Khashoggi’s body is: official

WASHINGTON: Riyadh does not know the location of dissident Jamal Khashoggi’s body, despite having detained the Saudi team that murdered him, a high-ranking foreign affairs official in the kingdom said in an interview.

The dissident journalist was dismembered after his murder October 2 in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul but his remains have yet to be found. Adel al-Jubeir, Saudi minister of state for foreign affairs, said the murder was carried out by Saudi officials "acting outside their scope of authority" and that 11 people have been charged with the crime.

But asked where Khashoggi’s body is, he told media, "We don’t know." Jubeir said the public prosecutor responsible for the case had sought evidence from Turkey but had received no response. Questioned why those in custody couldn’t tell them where the body was, Jubeir responded: "We are still investigating." "We have now a number of possibilities and we’re asking them what they did with the body, and I think this investigation is ongoing, and I would expect that eventually we will find the truth," he said. Jubeir was interviewed Friday, the same day President Donald Trump ignored a congressional deadline for reporting on who assassinated Khashoggi

The US government will continue investigating the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said during a visit to Hungary on Monday. “America is not covering up for a murder,” he said, adding that the United States would take more action to hold accountable all those responsible for Khashoggi’s death.