Riyadh concedes Khashoggi killed in “rogue operation”

Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir has admitted that the dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi was murdered in a “rogue operation,” carried out without the knowledge of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and the top brass of the country’s intelligence service.

The minister’s remarks mark the most direct confession from the Saudi authorities, which initially responded to the allegations of their involvement in Khashoggi’s disappearance with outright denial followed by peddling conflicting accounts of the journalist’s killing, writes the BBC.

The Western nations, including Germany, France and the U.K., which have been critical of Saudi Arabia’s vacillating positions over Khashoggi’s fate, are pressing Riyadh to share the facts and clear up things on what, Saudis have admitted being a “grave mistake,” notes The Guardian.