by Phillip M. Bailey, Louisville Courier Journal –

Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister called the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi earlier this month at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul “unacceptable.” (Oct. 21) AP

U.S. Sen. Rand Paul said he won’t be lectured by Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister about America’s scrutiny of the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

“It takes a lot of damn gall for Saudi Arabia — a dictatorship with 3,000 political prisoners held without trial — to lecture anyone in the U.S. on the presumption of innocence,” Paul told the Courier Journal during a conference call with reporters on Monday.

Paul has said that Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is culpable for the death of the Washington Post columnist.

Adel al-Jubeir, the Saudi foreign minister, called out the Kentucky Republican by name for making that accusation during an appearance on Fox News this weekend.

“I find it very surprising that somebody 6,000 miles away can be certain about an event that happened 6,000 miles away with no access to information or intelligence,” Jubeir said. “So this is a judgment call on the part of Sen. Paul. This is not based in fact. It’s just based on emotions and based on speculation.”

Khashoggi, a Saudi, worked for the Washington Post as a columnist and was regularly critical of his country’s regime. He disappeared Oct. 2 after entering the Saudi consulate in Turkey to obtain documents in preparation for his marriage.

The Saudi government had denied knowing anything about Khashoggi’s fate for weeks, saying he had left the consulate shortly after entering. Since then, media outlets across the world have reported Khashoggi was killed and his body dismembered. Many of those reports were based on leaks from Turkish intelligence officials, according to news agencies.

Jubeir said Sunday that Khashoggi’s death was a “criminal” act committed by individuals as part of a rogue operation “outside the scope” of the country’s authority. He said 18 Saudi agents had been arrested and that investigators cooperating with the Turkish government are still looking into how Khashoggi was killed and what happened to his body.

Paul reasserted Monday that the crown prince was involved and that the “thugs” who committed the murder will likely be executed to cover up the scandal. He said in a dictatorship rarely do those at the top of the not know what “their guards and their henchmen” are doing.

“Nothing happens in Saudi Arabia without the crown prince’s approval,” Paul said. “I think it’s laughable and not credible to think that he was not involved in this.”

Jubeir has adamantly denied that Saudi leaders were involved in the journalist’s death. He said Sunday that Kentucky’s junior senator is making his accusation that the Middle Eastern country played a role in Khashoggi’s death without facts.

“There is the presumption of innocence until proven guilty,” Jubeir said on Fox News. “In this case, people have turned it upside down unfortunately.”

Paul has been a longtime critic of U.S. foreign aid to multiple countries. He was one of the first lawmakers to call for ending the U.S.-Saudi arms deal over Khashoggi’s death, which has sparked an international outrage.

He said the U.S. has been too quiet and has glossed over the Saudi’s abuse of human rights in the past due to the oil trade.

“I think we ought to be very, very careful with a country that spreads hatred of the West around the world through their madrassas (religious schools), a country that has supplied arms to al-Qaida and al-Nusra elements in Syria, a country that’s pushing an unjust war in Yemen is not somebody we should be supplying with weapons,” Paul said during Monday’s conference call.

Germany suspended selling arms to the Saudis in the wake of Khashoggi’s disappearance, but there is no sign that the U.S., which is the kingdom’s largest weapons supplier, would do the same.

President Donald Trump said in an interview with the Post there has been “deception” and “lies” by the Saudis, but he has continued to defend the country as an “incredible ally.” He also backed off the idea of ending the arms deal — which brought in $18 billion to the U.S. last year — saying the Saudis would buy from China or Russia instead.

Paul has been embraced by the president as a key supporter in the Senate. He said he has spoken with Trump about the controversy and shared his view that “arms sales should not be looked at as a jobs program” by the White House.

Paul said he doesn’t want to isolate Saudi Arabia from the rest of the world, and the United States should continue to trade with the kingdom. He said economic sanctions would do little unless they were applied to Salman, the crown prince, personally.

He said taking the arms deal off the table must be considered given how important it is for the kingdom.

“Saudi Arabia depends on us entirely, it’s much more a one-way street,” Paul said. “We don’t need their oil anymore … we could put an extreme amount of pressure to them on stopping arms sales.”

USA Today contributed to this report. Reporter Phillip M. Bailey can be reached at 502-582-4475 or [email protected]. Support strong local journalism by subscribing today: courier-journal.com/philb.