By Andrew Torchia
DUBAI (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia on Sunday warned against threats to
punish it over the disappearance of journalist Jamal Khashoggi last
week, saying it would retaliate against any sanctions with tougher
measures, as international criticism increased.
Khashoggi, a U.S. resident and Washington Post columnist critical of
Saudi Arabia, disappeared on Oct. 2 after entering the Saudi consulate
in Istanbul. Turkey's government believes he was murdered inside the
building and his body removed. Saudi Arabia has denied that.
U.S. President Donald Trump has threatened "severe punishment" if it
turned out Khashoggi was killed in the consulate, though he said
Washington would be "punishing" itself if it halted military sales to
Riyadh, a key ally.
"The Kingdom affirms its total rejection of any threats and attempts
to undermine it, whether by threatening to impose economic sanctions,
using political pressures, or repeating false accusations..." the
official Saudi Press Agency (SPA)quoted an unnamed government source as
saying.
"The Kingdom also affirms that if it receives any action, it will
respond with greater action, and that the Kingdom's economy has an
influential and vital role in the global economy," the source added,
without elaborating.
Britain, France and Germany told Saudi Arabia they were treating the case with "the utmost seriousness".
"There needs to be a credible investigation to establish the truth
about what happened, and - if relevant - to identify those bearing
responsibility for the disappearance of Jamal Khashoggi, and ensure that
they are held to account," the foreign ministers from the three
countries said in a joint statement.
"We encourage joint Saudi-Turkish efforts in that regard, and expect
the Saudi Government to provide a complete and detailed response. We
have conveyed this message directly to the Saudi authorities."
The statement, by British foreign minister Jeremy Hunt, France's
Jean-Yves Le Drian and Germany's Heiko Maas, made no mention of
potential actions the countries might take.
The Saudi stock market lost $33 billion of its value on Sunday amid
investor worries about deteriorating international relations, one of the
first signs of the economic pain that Riyadh could suffer over the
affair.
In a column published just after the SPA statement, Saudi-owned Al
Arabiya channel's General Manager Turki Aldakhil warned that imposing
sanctions on the world's largest oil exporter could spark global
economic disaster.
"It would lead to Saudi Arabia's failure to commit to producing 7.5
million barrels. If the price of oil reaching $80 angered President
Trump, no one should rule out the price jumping to $100, or $200, or
even double that figure," he wrote.
U.S. senators have triggered a provision of the Global Magnitsky
Human Rights Accountability Act requiring the president to determine
whether a foreign person is responsible for a gross human rights
violation. The act has in the past imposed visa bans and asset freezes
on Russian officials.
Anti-Saudi sentiment in the U.S. Congress could conceivably raise
pressure to pass the so-called No Oil Producing and Exporting Cartels
Act, which would end sovereign immunity shielding OPEC members from U.S.
legal action.
A senior member of Saudi Arabia's ruling family, Prince Khaled
al-Faisal, has met Turkey's President Tayyip Erdogan to discuss
Khashoggi's disappearance, two sources with knowledge of the matter told
Reuters without providing details of the talks.
On Friday, a source with links to the prince's family said Prince
Khaled, the governor of Mecca, had been sent to Turkey in his capacity
as special adviser to King Salman.
A Turkish official told Reuters on Sunday that the Saudis had said
they would allow the consulate to be searched, and that this would
happen by the end of the weekend, though he had conceded to "flexibility
on this date."
"But Turkey is determined on the subject of entering the consulate
and carrying out a criminal inspection. There is no alternative to
carrying out this inspection. Time is important in terms of evidence,"
the official said.
(Reporting by Aziz El Yaakoubi and Asma Alsharif; writing by Stephen Kalin; editing by Jason Neely/Robin Pomeroy)
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