Germany has imposed European travel bans on 18 Saudi nationals believed to be connected to the killing of the Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, the country’s foreign minister said on Monday.
Heiko Maas told reporters in Brussels the ban was for the 26-nation Schengen zone and was issued in close coordination with France, which is part of the Schengen area, and the UK, which is not.
“As before, there are more questions than answers in this case, with the crime itself and who is behind it,” Maas said. The 18 Saudis were “allegedly connected to this crime”, Maas added, but he gave no further information.
In Berlin his office said it could not release the names due to German privacy protections.
Khashoggi, a columnist for the Washington Post who had been critical of the Saudi royal family, disappeared after entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on 2 October. Riyadh had offered contradictory explanations for his disappearance, before saying Khashoggi was killed after “negotiations” to convince him to return to Saudi Arabia failed.
In an address to an advisory body on Monday – his first public comment since Khashoggi’s murder – King Salman made no direct mention of the crisis, though he lauded the country’s judiciary and public prosecutors for carrying out their duty in the service of justice.
US intelligence agencies have concluded that Salman’s son, the powerful Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, ordered the killing, which has put the Trump administration – close allies of the Saudis – in a difficult situation.
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