EU to take joint stance at end of Khashoggi probe

By Serife Cetin

BRUSSELS

The European Commission said Friday they are discussing a joint stance for Saudi Arabia following the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

“In any case, the member states are in contact with one another,” commission spokeswoman Maja Kocijancic said, in a daily press briefing in Brussels.

She added that the joint stance would be taken once the results of the investigation into Khashoggi's murder are revealed.

Khashoggi, a columnist for The Washington Post, went missing after entering the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul on Oct. 2.

After weeks of denying involvement, the kingdom admitted that Khashoggi had been killed at the consulate but claimed that the Saudi royal family had no prior knowledge of a plot to murder him.

So far, 18 people, including security officers, have been arrested in Saudi Arabia in connection with the murder.

Last week, Turkish prosecutors announced their preliminary findings, saying Khashoggi was strangled to death in a premeditated killing soon after he entered the consulate.

The Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office said Khashoggi's body was disposed of after being dismembered.

Saudi authorities have so far claimed that they do not know the whereabouts of his remains.