Saudi Arabia was presumed to be guilty over the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi without people knowing the facts or waiting for investigations to be completed, Saudi Arabia's foreign minister Adel al-Jubeir told CNBC on Wednesday.
"Saudi Arabia was declared guilty without people seeing evidence, without people knowing the facts," Al-Jubeir said, speaking to CNBC's Hadley Gamble in Riyadh.
"This has continued since. We have seen leaks in the media, out of Turkey and out of Qatari-owned news entities that are disparaging of the kingdom and we see a lot of accusations thrown at the Kingdom of Saudi (Arabia), but they are not true."
_______________
Read more:
Saudi foreign minister says Khashoggi claims not aimed at crown prince
Saudi foreign minister: Crown Prince had absolutely no role in Khashoggi death
_______________
He described the October 2 killing of Mr Khashoggi as “an unfortunate accident” for which those who committed it “will be brought to justice.”
“We have made it very clear that Saudi Arabia’s government is not involved in this and the crown prince is not involved in this, at all,” he said.
Mr Al Jubeir said an investigation was ongoing, and that investigators were seeking cooperation from Turkey. “We’ve asked Turkey to provide us with evidence, and we’re still waiting for some of that evidence,” he said.
“Every Saudi is shocked and outraged by this crime. ... This was not authorized, this was an abuse of authority, and every Saudi wants to see justice served,” he said. The kingdom was reviewing procedures to make sure a similar event can never happen again, he added.
Mr Al Jubeir also dismissed "ridiculous" reports that members of the Saudi royal family want to see a change in the line of succession, stating that the kingdom is united around its leadership.
He said that "these are outrageous comments that are being made and are totally unacceptable."
"The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is unified on this issue, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is committed to its leadership, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is committed to the vision that our leaders have put forth for us in terms of Vision 2030 and in terms of moving along the path of reform," Mr Al Jubeir said
