UK to revoke visas of any Saudis suspected of involvement in Khashoggi killing

Anyone suspected of involvement in the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi will be barred from entering the UK, Theresa May has said.

The Prime Minister said if any of the suspects had a visa it would be revoked as she demanded the Saudi authorities provide a full explanation of how the Washington Post columnist died at the Gulf kingdom’s consulate in Istanbul.

Mrs May told MPs at Prime Minister’s Questions that she would speak to Saudi Arabia’s King Salman on Wednesday.

Turkish officials say Mr Khashoggi was killed on October 2 by a 15-man Saudi hit squad that included a member of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s entourage on overseas trips.

The Prime Minister rejected the Saudi claim that Mr Khashoggi died after a fight at the consulate.

Mrs May 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.”

She added that Home Secretary Sajid Javid is “taking action against all suspects to prevent them entering the UK”.

“If these individuals currently have visas, those visas will be revoked today,” she told MPs.