Sam In Riyadh News Today

Here. lest we forget that the mystery at the center of all of this, the disappearance, jamana, of the washington post columnist, the turkish authorities threw leaks to the media say they have evidence about what happened to him in that consulate behind you. but that evidence hasnt been released, sam rightly pointed out. why? >> reporter: well, thats the big question, becky. and i think pressure is mounting on turkey right now, especially after you saw all these strong-worded statements from saud...

Said it was his personal opinion and not the official saudi position. we are joined in riyadh outside the saudi consulate here in istanbul. sam, let me start with you. some confusion in the messaging from saudi arabia. is it clear? why? >> reporter: its not clear why entirely, becky, and i think you go right to the hub of the issue domestically here in saudi arabia. youve got two schools emerging, i think, a hard line taken particularly associated privately sources are telling me, with muhammad ...

And in a new statement, threatens retaliation for any move against its interest. the kingdom affirms that if any action is taken, it will respond with greater action. it also appeared to be in apparent put down of president trump. a few hours after their first statement, riyadh rolling back their rhetoric. to help clarify, recently issued saudi statement, the kingdom of saudi arabia extends its appreciation to all, including the u.s. administration, for refraining from jumping to conclusions on ...

Murdered allegedly by the saudis. somebody somewhere, perhaps in a very small cell, does know the answer. but ive been talking to very sear yen officials and i think theyre quite genuine in saying, nobody quite knows how to react because they dont quite know what theyre reacting to. there are questions that are asked of saudis of their own government as to why, for example, there is no cctv footage from inside the consulate when everybody knows such an environment would have that. on the same to...

Because a lot of people are concerned. human rights activists weve spoken to in the region concerned this could really undermine any sort of credible investigation into what happened to jamal khashoggi. of course, the turkish government, the foreign minister over the weekend, saying this working group will not impact their criminal investigation, becky. >> jomana outside the consulate and sam in riyadh. im joined by ambassador matthew, the former senior u.s. official covering turkey. given you...

Who have been voicing their concern in the region and beyond about this working group, and if its going to be a way to resolve this crisis and theyve been concerned about how credible the investigation is going to be with both parties involved, but weve heard from the turkish foreign minister over the weekend saying that this joint working group in no way will impact their criminal investigation, becky. >> jamana is outside the saudi consulate and, of course, sam in riyadh. rosemary, what we kno...

Forming a working group to discuss the disappearance of jamal khashoggi. turkish officials believe he was murdered in the saudi consulate in istanbul. saudi arabia vehemently denies the claim. well, there is international condemnation of the journalists disappearance and the threat of sanctions. riyadh responded with its own threat of greater action, but later walked that back to thank countries that did not jump to conclusions about the incident. saudi arabias stock market took a bit of a beati...

Nick robertson, istanbul, turkey. >> faced with the possibility of sanctions, riyadh responded with a threat of its own to take greater action, and i quote. but later, the sad i embassy and washington softened the tone and expressed appreciation to all, including the u.s., for not jumping to conclusions in this investigation. in an op-ed on the saudi channel, the general manager wrote, and i quote, if u.s. sanctions are imposed on saudi arabia, we will be facing an economic disaster that would r...

Rosemary, as you can see, i mean, a lot of discussion here about what we may or may not read into the developments over the last 24 hours, but certainly there is some movement, as sam was rightly pointing out. there seems to be some disconnect between the messaging coming out of the kingdom, meantime here. we have yet to see any further evidence or yet to see any evidence at all of just exactly what happened in that consulate. washington buying a little bit of time at this point, expect to see m...

Statement. then we heard from the embassy in saudi arabia that really moved very quickly to try to undermine the statement that was coming out of riyadh. so, one of the statements tweeted out of the united states embassy in washington, the saudi embassy, of course, it said, to help clarify recently issued saudi statements, the kingdom of saudi arabia extends its appreciation to all, including the u.s. administration, for refraining from jumping to conclusions on the ongoing investigation. now,...