Italy’s prime minister, Giuseppe Conte, said he is awaiting “credible answers” about the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

Iran Press/Europe: According to an Iran Press report, Premier Giuseppe Conte told foreign reporters in Rome on Monday that Italy takes the case very seriously, “but we would like to have all the elements before evaluating them with our international partners.”

Saudi Arabia finally acknowledged the writer’s death early Saturday in what it described as a “fistfight” at its consulate in Istanbul.

Related news: Saudi Arabia admits Khashoggi killed in its consulate

Asked whether Italy was satisfied with the Saudi explanation, Conte said: “We are still waiting for credible answers to be provided because this is a really worrisome case. ... This case cannot be closed without satisfying answers.”

Meanwhile, in a statement on Monday, New York-based Human Rights Watch said Saudi Arabia's claim that Khashoggi was killed in a fistfight at the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul appeared to be an attempt to "insulate Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman from further scrutiny and to prevent full accountability" for the journalist's death.

The group renewed a call for the United Nations to launch an independent investigation into the killing.

Michael Page, the deputy Middle East director at Human Rights Watch, said "demotions of senior officials as scapegoats" would not exonerate the crown prince.

In a joint statement issued on Sunday, UK, France and Germany also condemned the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi saying that nothing can justify his death, and stressed that urgent clarification is needed about Jamal Khashoggi's death, and emphasized that the version of events proposed by the Saudi investigators requires more facts to back it up.

Related news: 

Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi entered Saudi Arabia's consulate in Istanbul on October 2 to obtain a document certifying he divorced his ex-wife so he could remarry. He has not been seen since.

 

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