Watchdog

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan says the order to kill Saudi opposition journalist Jamal Khashoggi "came from the highest levels of the Saudi government," but he said he did not believe the king himself was involved.

The Turkish leader wrote in an opinion piece in The Washington Post on November 2 that his country had "moved heaven and earth" to shed light on the circumstances surrounding the killing of the journalist inside the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul.

"As a result," he wrote, "the world has learned that Khashoggi was killed in cold blood by a death squad, and it has been established that his murder was premeditated."

Riyadh denies the ruling royal family was involved in the killing and blames it on "rogue" agents. But suspicion has surrounded its de facto ruler, Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman, with many of the 18 people detained in the case identified as having ties to the prince.

"We...know that those individuals came to carry out their orders: Kill Khashoggi and leave. Finally, we know that the order to kill Khashoggi came from the highest levels of the Saudi government," Erdogan wrote.

But, he added, "I do not believe for a second that King Salman, the custodian of the holy mosques, ordered the hit on Khashoggi."

Khashoggi, a Washington Post columnist and an outspoken critic of the crown prince, went missing on October 2 after visiting the Saudi Consulate to complete paperwork needed to marry his Turkish fiancee.

Istanbul's chief prosecutor has said Khashoggi was strangled and his body "cut into pieces" in a premeditated killing immediately upon entering the building.

A Pakistani Islamist party says it will call off protests over the acquittal of a Christian woman in a blasphemy case, after the party reached a deal with the government on November 2.

Under the agreement, the government agreed to bar Asia Bibi, who has been on death row since 2010, from leaving the country.

"The party leaders have announced an end to protest sit-ins across the country. Workers have been asked to disperse peacefully," said Pir Ijaz Qadri, spokesman for the Tehreek-e-Labaik Pakistan party, which has largely led three days of protests in major Pakistani cities. The government confirmed the agreement.

Bibi, a mother of five, was accused of making derogatory remarks about Islam after neighbors objected to her drinking water from their glass because she was not Muslim.

On October 31, a three-judge panel set up to hear the appeal ruled the evidence was insufficient.

Since the landmark ruling over Bibi’s acquittal, thousands of Islamists have rallied in Islamabad and other cities, demanding that the acquittal verdict be overturned.

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Third Day Of Protests At Pakistan Blasphemy Case

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Demonstrators blocked highways and damaged or set fire to dozens of vehicles.

Bibi's whereabouts were not known on November 2, with speculation rife that she would be secretly sent out of the country by the authorities.

The charge of blasphemy carries the death penalty in Pakistan and critics say it is often misused to settle feuds and arguments.

Based on reporting by AFP, AP, Reuters