UK Foreign Secretary to MPs: I had no prior knowledge of Khashoggi plot

Britain's Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt said on Tuesday he had no previous knowledge of the Saudi murder plot against journalist Jamal Khashoggi on Oct. 2.

Khashoggi, who had been an outspoken critic of the Saudi crown prince, was killed in Saudi Arabia’s consulate in Istanbul.

Saudi Arabia initially denied all knowledge of the journalist’s fate but the Saudi public prosecutor has since described it as premeditated murder organized by “rogue agents”.

Reports on Sunday suggested that MI6 had discovered the plot and had warned Saudi Arabia to cancel the mission.

The Foreign Secretary, speaking in the House of Commons, denied he had any knowledge — but refused to speculate on what was known by British intelligence.

Hunt was forced to clarify that he had “no prior knowledge” of the plot after media reports suggested the British intelligence services had been made aware three weeks before the incident.

The media report said that the details British intelligence knew “included primary orders to capture Khashoggi and bring him back to Saudi Arabia for questioning.”

Hunt said: “It is not possible for a foreign secretary or indeed any minister to comment on intelligence matters, for very obvious reasons.”

“But, I did not know about this attack,” he added.

The comments came after a question from Labour MP Gill Furniss (Sheffield, Brightside and Hillsborough), who said: “Media reports have surfaced this weekend suggesting UK intelligence services were aware of the Saudi plan to abduct the journalist Jamal Khashoggi and take him back to Riyadh, and of the deployment of the hit squad to Istanbul for that purpose.

“Can I give the Foreign Secretary the opportunity to tell the House today that those reports are categorically untrue?”

“We are as shocked as anyone else is about what happened,” Hunt repeated.

“If the allegations in this weekend’s report are true, they are extremely serious,” Labour’s shadow Foreign Secretary Emily Thornberry said, following up the question about Khashoggi.

“It was reported in early September that our intelligence services became aware of the Saudi plan to abduct Jamal Khashoggi and on October 1 they knew that a Saudi team had been dispatched to Istanbul for that purpose,” she said.

Thornberry said the allegations are “very serious,” adding that “it won’t do to hide behind a blanket refusal to discuss intelligence matters.”

She questioned whether the foreign secretary would accept an invitation to a closed-door emergency session to discuss the matter with the Intelligence Security Commission.

Hunt said he would accept such an invitation but added that the desire for him to reveal very important intelligence is “inappropriate.”

“Saudi Arabia is a human rights country of concern for the Foreign Office. We have our regular discussions with them about our concerns,” Hunt also said during the session at parliament.

PressTV-UK intel: Khashoggi murder ordered from ‘royal circle’

Orders by a “member of the royal circle” to abduct dissident Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi were intercepted by the British intelligence, a report says.

Asked by Conservative MO Sir Desmond Swayne whether there are regrets over seeking the election of Saudi Arabia to the UN Human Rights Council, Hunt said: “There are all sorts of issues with respect to Saudi Arabia’s human rights record that are in sharp relief at the moment."

He added: “But … I have spoken more clearly than any Western foreign minister that if the Khashoggi stories turn out to be true, that would be inconsistent with our values.”

Over the weekend, sources close to Khashoggi revealed that he was about to disclose details of Saudi Arabia’s use of chemical weapons in Yemen.

The revelations come as media sources claimed last month that Saudi Arabia had been using US-supplied white phosphorous munitions against troops and even civilians in Yemen though regulations state the chemical may be used to provide smokescreens, if used illegally it can it burn to the bone.

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