US Defense Secretary Calls for Comprehensive Investigation by Saudi Arabia into Khashoggi's Death

The US Defense Secretary stated that he met with the Saudi Foreign Minister at an international meeting and requested a thorough and transparent investigation into the murder of Jamal Khashoggi, the Saudi dissident journalist. Jim Mattis said on Sunday, November 6, that Adel al-Jubeir, the Saudi Foreign Minister, did not 'deny' the necessity for Riyadh to be transparent about Khashoggi's death. The US Defense Secretary did not provide details about the content of his discussions with Jubeir on Saturday in Bahrain but stated that he told the Saudi Foreign Minister, 'We need to know what happened.' According to AFP, the meeting was not official, and both spoke during a ministerial dinner. Mr. Mattis warned on Saturday at a meeting in Manama, the capital of Bahrain, that the murder of this journalist has jeopardized regional security. He said, 'The failure of countries to adhere to international norms and the rule of law has disrupted regional stability at a time when it is needed more than ever.' Turkish officials claim that a 15-member Saudi team tortured and then killed 59-year-old Jamal Khashoggi, who went to the Saudi consulate in Istanbul for consular matters, based on a 'pre-planned' scheme, and then dismembered his body. Riyadh, which initially claimed that the critical journalist left the consulate safely, finally admitted last Thursday that his murder was premeditated. In the three weeks since this incident, a wave of global condemnation regarding the murder has emerged, especially as the image of Mohammed bin Salman, the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, has been severely tarnished, with some analysts and US senators holding him responsible for the murder. Riyadh has denied this accusation, and Mr. Salman himself described the murder as 'heinous.' Many countries around the world have called for Saudi Arabia to provide transparent accountability for this incident, and Ankara officials have also requested the extradition of the suspects, the announcement of Khashoggi's body location, and the identification of the perpetrator or perpetrators of his murder. Saudi Arabia, which claims that 18 people have been arrested in connection with this accusation, rejected the request for their extradition to Turkey on Saturday. Meanwhile, Reuters reported that foreign investors sold $624 million (2.34 billion Saudi riyals) of their shares in the Saudi stock market in the week ending October 25. However, the pace of stock sales by foreigners has slowed compared to the previous week. In the week prior, more than 4 billion Saudi riyals worth of shares were sold by foreign investors. The Saudi stock market has lost more than 8 percent of its value since the beginning of this year, with the most significant decline occurring over the past three weeks when Jamal Khashoggi's murder became headline news in international media.