Jamal Khashoggi: UK to revoke visas of suspects in killing of journalist
Prime Minister Theresa May says she will speak with Saudi Arabia's King Salman about the killing of Jamal Khashoggi later.
Wednesday 24 October 2018 15:54, UK
Anyone suspected of being involved in the killing of a dissident Saudi Arabian journalist will be banned from entering Britain, Theresa May has said.
The prime minister told MPs that if any of suspects in the murder of Jamal Khashoggi had a visa, it would be "revoked today".
Mrs May also revealed in the Commons that she will speak with King Salman, the ruler of the Gulf kingdom, later on Wednesday.
She said there was an "urgent need" to establish exactly what happened to Mr Khashoggi, a columnist for the Washington Post.
The 59-year-old, who was a critic of the Saudi leadership, disappeared after entering its consulate in Istanbul, Turkey, earlier this month.
Turkish officials say he was killed by a 15-man Saudi hit squad that had been flown into the country, with a member of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's entourage among those involved.
Riyadh initially denied having any part in Mr Khashoggi's disappearance, before later claiming he died in a "fist fight".
The PM made it clear the UK rejected the Saudi version of events.
She said: "We condemn the killing of the journalist Jamal Khashoggi in the strongest possible terms and after his disappearance we made clear that Saudi Arabia must co-operate with Turkey and conduct a full and credible investigation.
"The claim that has been made that Mr Khashoggi died in a fight does not amount to a credible explanation so there does remain an urgent need to establish what has happened in relation to this."
Mrs May said Home Secretary Sajid Javid was "taking action against all suspects to prevent them from entering the UK".
The British decision on visas follows similar measures taken by the US.
Mr Khashoggi's killing has provoked further scrutiny of Britain's ties with the Gulf kingdom - a key regional ally and trading partner.
There have been calls from opposition parties to suspend arms sales to the country, something which Germany has opted to do.
The Scottish National Party's leader at Westminster, Ian Blackford, said the killing of Mr Khashoggi had "all the hallmarks of being a premeditated murder" and called on the government to follow Berlin's lead on arms sales.
"That is moral leadership, the UK government must take decisive action," he said.
"Words of condemnation will not do."
Labour said investing in manufacturing and skills would "more than offset" any potential job losses caused by action on arms sales.
"There is a clear responsibility on the British government to take decisive action in relation not only to the murder in Istanbul but also the conduct of the Yemen war," a spokesman said.
He added that the action take by Downing Street "do not go far enough" in response to the killing of Mr Khashoggi and the "wide mass abuse of human rights by the Saudi dictatorship".
But former deputy prime minister Lord Heseltine urged caution, saying such a move could result in a loss of British influence in Riyadh.
"The problem with stopping selling arms is that it doesn't have any effect on the ability of these countries to behave in the way that they want to because there are plenty of other sources of arms procurement," he told the BBC.
"What it does mean is that you lose any influence in those countries."