A UN expert on executions is to travel to Turkey next week to lead an “independent international inquiry” into the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul last October.

Agnes Callamard, the UN special rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, told Reuters in a statement issued in Geneva that she would evaluate the circumstances of the crime and “the nature and the extent of states’ and individuals’ responsibilities for the killing”. She is due to report on the conclusions she draws from her five-day visit to the UN human rights council in June. Callamard added that the inquiry was being conducted at her request and that she would be accompanied by three experts, who have forensic expertise among other skills.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu earlier this week said it was time for an international investigation and that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had ordered preparations to be made. Cavusoglu claimed on January 21 that some western countries were trying to cover up the Khashoggi murder. He said the path to justice could be found through a UN-led international investigation.

“We see how those, who speak of freedom of the press in the world, cover this thing up when they see money,” Cavusoglu was quoted as saying by Hurriyet Daily News on January 21.

The CIA has concluded that the murder of Khashoggi, a critic of Riyadh who was self-exiled and resident in Washington, DC and wrote for The Washington Post, was probably ordered by the de facto leader of Saudi Arabia, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, a close ally of US President Donald Trump who has signed off on huge arms purchases from American defence companies and backs the White House policy of attempting to isolate Iran.

Saudis busy at Davos
Turkey has used the Khashoggi case as a stick with which to beat rival Middle East power broker Saudi Arabia in the pursuit of its own interests and relations with the US. Saudi officials have been busy at the World Economic Forum in Davos this week trying to rehabilitate their country’s image in the wake of the Khashoggi scandal, but Turkey seems to be saying “Not so fast”.

Republican Senator Lindsey Graham who visited Ankara over last weekend to discuss issues including the planned US withdrawal of its armed forces from Syria told reporters the relationship between the US and Saudi Arabia cannot move forward until bin Salman is “dealt with”, without being more specific.

Saudi Arabia has refused to cooperate with Turkey in investigating the Khashoggi murder and is conducting its own judicial proceedings against 12 suspects. The case is not being held in public so the evidence and defence being presented is not known. Officials of the kingdom have previously said the killing was committed by Saudi operatives who flew to Istanbul and carried out a “rogue” operation which bin Salman was not informed of.