This followed a U.S. intelligence report accusing Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman of approving the 2018 gruesome murder of exiled journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who announced the measure, alleged that the affected individuals were involved in “threatening dissidents overseas, including but not limited to the Khashoggi killing.”

He said the ban was part of measures by the U.S. government to “reinforce the world’s condemnation of that crime”.

The aim, he said, was to stop governments that “reach beyond their borders to threaten and attack journalists and perceived dissidents for exercising their fundamental freedoms”.

“As a matter of safety for all within our borders, perpetrators targeting perceived dissidents on behalf of any foreign government should not be permitted to reach American soil.

“I also have directed that the State Department fully report on any such extraterritorial activities by any government in our annual Country Reports on Human Rights Practices.

“The United States will continue to shine a light on any government that targets individuals, either domestically or extraterritorially, merely for exercising their human rights and fundamental freedoms,” he said.

Khashoggi, a strong critic of bin Salman’s policies, was murdered by Saudi agents at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul while on a visit to obtain papers for his marriage.

According to the declassified report, released by the U.S. Director of National Intelligence on Friday, the prince approved the capture or killing of the late journalist.

It is the first time the U.S., a Saudi ally, is publicly accusing the crown prince of ordering the murder, an allegation bin Salman has always denied.

The visa ban confirms reports that the President Joe Biden Administration would be tough on Saudi Arabia on issues of human rights.

Blinken said although the U.S. would continue to invest in its relationship with Saudi Arabia, the partnership must reflect U.S. values.

“To that end, we have made absolutely clear that extraterritorial threats and assaults by Saudi Arabia against activists, dissidents, and journalists must end.

“They will not be tolerated by the United States,” he said.

Source: NAN

The post Khashoggi: U.S. imposes visa ban on 76 Saudis appeared first on Frontpageng.

Khashoggi was killed after entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on October 2, 2018.

Saudi Arabia enforces basic Islamic laws, which allow a death penalty to be commuted if a murder victim’s family has forgiven the killers or accepted a payment, known as “diya” in Arabic.

Monday’s commuted sentences come after the sons of Khashoggi said in May they had forgiven their father’s killers.

These are the final verdicts and were issued after the “relatives of the deceased dropped their legal right,” the kingdom’s top prosecutor said in a statement on Monday.

Three others were also convicted in the case, and were sentenced to between seven and 10 years in jail.

Turkey claims the journalist was murdered by a Saudi hit squad and his body was dismembered after he entered the consulate to obtain paperwork to marry Hatice Cengiz, who was waiting for him outside.

Saudi Arabia has repeatedly said that the Washington Post columnist’s death was a “rogue operation” and denied that powerful Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, widely viewed as the kingdom’s de facto ruler, was involved.

Khashoggi was once close to the Saudi royal family but became a vocal critic of Mohammed.

His remains were never found.

Source: dpa/NAN

The post Saudi Arabia commutes death sentences for Khashoggi killers appeared first on Frontpageng.

It is the first time the president would be accusing Saudi directly.

His position, according to a report by the British Broadcasting Corporation, BBC, was contained in an article in the Washington Post.

“We know that the order to kill Khashoggi came from the highest levels of the Saudi government,” he said.

But stressing Turkey’s “friendly” ties with Saudi Arabia, he added that he did not believe King Salman was involved.

Khashoggi was murdered at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on 2 October.

Turkish investigators believe the journalist, who was living in exile, was strangled when he visited to collect documents for his forthcoming marriage to a Turkish citizen.

His body has not been found and an aide to President Erdogan, Yasin Aktay, has said he believes it was dissolved in acid after being cut up.

The murder, initially covered up by Saudi officials, caused a diplomatic crisis between Saudi Arabia and its allies.

The Saudis have since arrested 18 suspects who, they say, will be prosecuted in Saudi Arabia.

Turkey wants them extradited.

A memorial service marking four weeks since the journalist’s death has been held in Washington.

“We know that the perpetrators are among the 18 suspects detained in Saudi Arabia,” he wrote in the Washington Post, where Khashoggi had written a column.

“We also know that those individuals came to carry out their orders: Kill Khashoggi and leave. Finally, we know that the order to kill Khashoggi came from the highest levels of the Saudi government.”

Writing that the murder had involved a “lot more than a group of security officials”, President Erdogan called for “the puppet masters behind Khashoggi’s killing” to be exposed.

“No one should dare to commit such acts on the soil of a Nato ally again,” he said. “If anyone chooses to ignore that warning, they will face severe consequences.”

He complained that no action had been taken against the Saudi consul general, who has left Turkey, and accused the Saudi public prosecutor of failing to co-operate with the investigation “and answer even simple questions”.

The Saudis have admitted Khashoggi died at the consulate, while denying they know what happened to his body.

A Turkish prosecutor said earlier this week that investigators believe the journalist was immediately strangled on entering the consulate, in a murder planned in advance.

His body was then dismembered and destroyed “again, in line with advance plans”, prosecutor Irfan Fidan said.

Once an adviser to the Saudi royal family, Khashoggi fell out of favour with the government last year and went into self-imposed exile.

He had become a sharp critic of the Saudi government and of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who has been pioneering an ambitious economic and social reform programme in the country.

Speaking at the memorial service in Washington, Daniel Balson from Amnesty International said the Saudi government needed to be held to account over the journalist’s death.

“For too long, they’ve operated under the impression that impunity is for them and that the rules are for others,” he said.

“They believe that a government critic can disappear in their diplomatic mission and that those who care about justice will not notice or if they notice they will not object or if they object, they will not remember. Well we’ve noticed and we’re outraged and we will not forget.”

The post Khashoggi murder: Hold Saudi govt responsible, Turkish president says appeared first on Frontpageng.