UK does NOT believe Saudi Arabia claims over Khashoggi death, warns Raab

Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab bluntly dismissed the Gulf kingdom’s claim that Saudi Arabian Jamal Khashoggi died in Istanbul after a fight broke out.

But he rejected growing calls for Britain to sever its arms sales and other links with the repressive state.

Turkish authorities say there is evidence that 59-year-old Mr Khashoggi was interrogated, tortured, killed and dismembered in the Saudi consulate by a hit squad flown in from Riyadh.

The Washington Post columnist and prominent critic of the Saudi government has not been since visiting the building on October 2 to get documents to enable his forthcoming marriage.

Asked if he believed the Saudi government’s account of how the journalist died, Mr Raab told BBC One’s Andrew Marr: “No. I don’t think it’s credible. I think it’s a terrible case.”

The priority for Britain was to support the Turkish investigation to establish the facts “because there’s a serious question mark over the account that’s been given.

“And the British government wants to see people held to account for that death. It’s awful.”

But Mr Raab also stressed: “We’re not throwing our hands in the air and terminating a relationship with Saudi Arabia, not just because of the huge number of British jobs that depends on it, but also because if you exert influence over your partners you need to be able to talk to them.”

He defended Britain’s “rigorous” arms export regime and said Labour’s policy of banning such sales to countries like Saudi Arabia would cost “thousands” of UK jobs.

Pressed if Saudi diplomats could be expelled – as Russians were after the Novichok poisoning in Salisbury – he also cautioned: “I think we need to have a slightly more focused approach than just ‘do anything, do something’.

“But the number one thing at the moment is to support the investigation to make sure we know the full facts, because until you know the full facts you can’t work out what you do about it.

“We need to get the answers and then we can make a sensible and sober judgment call.”

Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson also underlined the need for a full explanation of Mr Khashoggi’s alleged death.

US President Donald Trump has said Saudi Arabia’s explanation was credible but that what happened was “unacceptable”.

During an official visit to New York, Mr Williamson declined to comment directly on Mr Trump’s remarks, but stressed the UK was examining the information and discussing the case with allies.

Saudi Arabia is the UK’s key ally in the region and a significant trading partner and Britain hosted Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on a state visit in March this year, where he met the Queen, Theresa May and national security officials.

Saudi state TV reports say that a number of Saudi nationals have been arrested and that deputy intelligence chief Ahmad al-Assiri and Saud al-Qahtani, a senior aide to the Crown Prince, have been dismissed, over the Khashoggi case.

At least three of the suspects were part of the Crown Prince’s entourage when he came to Britain, it has been reported.

Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt and his French and German counterparts Jean-Yves Le Drian and Heiko Maas issued a joint statement calling for “credible facts” about the “shameful” death of Mr Khashoggi.

“Nothing can justify this killing and we condemn it in the strongest possible terms, they said.

“Defending freedom of expression and a free press are key priorities for Germany, the United Kingdom and France.

“The threatening, attacking or killing of journalists, under any circumstances, is unacceptable and of utmost concern to our three nations.”

They “took note” of the Saudi statement but clarification was still urgently needed and the Saudi “hypotheses … need to be backed by facts to be considered credible”.

“We thus stress that more efforts are needed and expected towards establishing the truth in a comprehensive, transparent and credible manner.

“The quality and significance of the relationship we have with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia also rests with the respect we have for the norms and values to which the Saudi authorities and us are jointly committed under international law.”