New evidence suggests crown prince is liable of Jamal Khashoggi’s murder, UN investigator reveals

London. There is credible evidence that Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is liable for the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, a UN expert has said, UK’s Daily Mail has reported.

Agnes Callamard, a United Nations special rapporteur, has called for an impartial, international investigation to establish whether the 'threshold of criminal responsibility has been met'.

Callamard - in the first independent report on the killing published on Wednesday June 19 - said other high-level Saudi officials should also be investigated alongside the prince, and called for sanctions on Prince Mohammed's 'personal assets'. 

Khashoggi, a Washington Post contributor and critic of bin Salman, was murdered at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on October 2. 

Callamard said for instance that she had found evidence that 'Khashoggi was himself fully aware of the powers held by the Crown Prince, and fearful of him.'  

Saudi Arabia has admitted that its agents killed Khashoggi in a premeditated murder, but denied that Prince Mohammed had any knowledge of the operation. 

Riyadh's prosecutors have accused 'rogue agents' of the state for undertaking the killing and have put 11 men on trial behind closed doors, five of whom face the death penalty

Callamard has been conducting what she has described as 'an independent human rights inquiry' into Khashoggi's death.

UN special rapporteurs are independent and do not speak for the world body. 

In Wednesday's report she said she found that the probes conducted so far by Saudi Arabia and Turkey had 'failed to meet international standards regarding the investigation into unlawful deaths.'

She urged UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres to launch an official international criminal investigation into the case, which she said would make it possible to 'build-up strong files on each of the alleged perpetrators and identify mechanisms for formal accountability, such as an ad hoc or hybrid tribunal.'

She also called on the FBI in the United States, where Khashoggi was a resident, to open an investigation into the case, if it has not already done so, 'and pursue criminal prosecutions within the United States, as appropriate.'

For her investigation, Callamard said that, among other things, she had viewed CCTV footage from inside the consulate of the killing itself.

The report identified by name the 15 people she said were part of the mission to kill Khashoggi, and suggested that many of them were not on the list of 11 unnamed suspects facing a closed-door trial over the murder.

Wednesday's report also found that there was evidence that 'Saudi Arabia deliberately used consular immunity to stall Turkey's investigations until the crime scene could be thoroughly cleaned.'

'In view of my concerns regarding the fairness of the trial of the 11 suspects in Saudi Arabia, I call for the suspension of the trial,' she said in the report.

Khashoggi, who had written critically of the prince, was murdered and dismembered in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in October last year.

The journalist had last been seen entering the Saudi consulate on October 2 to obtain paperwork for marriage procedures. 

Riyadh's ever-changing explanations for the death led to worldwide suspicion that the prince was behind the operation.

Saudi Arabia initially denied any knowledge of what happened, insisting for weeks that Khashoggi had walked out of the consulate alive.  

After finally acknowledging that Khashoggi had died in the building, Saudi officials then claimed he had died accidentally during a brawl.  

Changing tack again, the Saudis then admitted the journalist was murdered, charged 11 people but denied that the prince had been involved.  

However, reports have suggested that Prince Mohammed was linked to the hit squad which killed Khashoggi and had issued threats against him in the past. 

America has alleged that his right-hand man Saud al-Qahtani 'was part of the planning and execution of the operation' to kill Khashoggi.

The killing strained Saudi Arabia's relations with the West and led to some demands for Europe and the U.S. to cut arms exports to the Gulf kingdom.

But U.S. President Donald Trump and French leader Emmanuel Macron both rejected the idea of cancelling weapons deals. 

Trump had called Saudi Arabia's explanation 'credible' when the kingdom suggested that Khashoggi had died in a fight.  

Prince Mohammed had commented on the Khashoggi case just last weekend, urging countries not to 'exploit' the killing for political gain.  

Mohammed bin Salman called Khashoggi's death a 'painful crime', once again distancing himself from the killing. 

'Any party exploiting the case politically should stop doing so, and present evidence to the (Saudi) court, which will contribute in achieving justice,' he said.  

His comments appeared to be a veiled warning to Turkey, which has been leading international pressure on Riyadh over the death and has demanded to know the whereabouts of Khashoggi's body, which has yet to be found. 

Prince Mohammed said the kingdom was committed to 'full justice and accountability' in the case. 

The prince, however, added that he wants strong relations with 'all Islamic countries including Turkey'.