Saudi crown prince takes responsibility for Jamal Khashoggi's death

Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman denies that he ordered the slaying of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi. Photo / AP

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said in a television interview that he takes "full responsibility" for the grisly killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, but he denied allegations that he ordered it.

"This was a heinous crime," Prince Mohammed, 34, told 60 Minutes in an interview that aired on Sunday. "But I take full responsibility as a leader in Saudi Arabia, especially since it was committed by individuals working for the Saudi government."

Asked if he ordered the killing of Khashoggi, who had criticised him in columns for The Washington Post, Prince Mohammed replied: "Absolutely not."

Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, pictured in December 2014, was killed on October 2, 2018 when he went to the Saudi consulate in Turkey. Photo / AP

The slaying was "a mistake," he said.

Khashoggi entered the Saudi consulate in Turkey on October 2, 2018, to collect a document that he needed to marry his Turkish fiancee. Agents of the Saudi government killed Khashoggi inside the consulate and apparently dismembered his body, which has never been found. Saudi Arabia has charged 11 people in the slaying and put them on trial, which has been held in secret. As of yet, no one has been convicted.

A UN report asserted that Saudi Arabia bore responsibility for the killing and said Prince Mohammed's possible role in it should be investigated. In Washington, Congress has said it believes Prince Mohammed is "responsible for the murder." Saudi Arabia has long insisted the crown prince had no involvement in an operation that included agents who reported directly to him.

Hatice Cengiz, the fiancee of murdered Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, pictured on September 26 in New York says she wants to know why Jamal was killed and where his body was. Photo / AP

"Some think that I should know what three million people working for the Saudi government do daily," the powerful heir told 60 Minutes. ''It's impossible that the three million would send their daily reports to the leader or the second-highest person in the Saudi government."

In an interview on Thursday in New York, Khashoggi's fiancee, Hatice Cengiz, told the Associated Press that responsibility for Khashoggi's slaying "was not limited to the perpetrators" and said she wanted Prince Mohammed to tell her: "Why was Jamal killed? Where is his body? What was the motive for this murder?"

Prince Mohammed also addressed the September 14 missile and drone attack on Saudi oil facilities. While Yemen's Iranian-allied Houthi rebels claimed the assault, Saudi Arabia has said it was "unquestionably sponsored by Iran."

"There is no strategic goal," Prince Mohammed said of the attack. "Only a fool would attack 5 per cent of global supplies. The only strategic goal is to prove that they are stupid and that is what they did."

He urged "strong and firm action to deter Iran."

- AP