Uber's chief executive said on Monday the murder by Saudi Arabia, a major investor in his company, of journalist Jamal Khashoggi last year could not be excused and that he was wrong to have described the killing as a "serious mistake".

Dara Khosrowshahi in an interview with "Axios on HBO" equated the ghastly murder of Khashoggi at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul last year with a fatality caused by one Uber's self-driving cars during a test run in Arizona, United States.

"It's a serious mistake. We've made mistakes too, with self-driving, and we stopped driving and we're recovering from that mistake," Khosrowshahi said in the interview. "So I think that people make mistakes. It doesn’t mean they can never be forgiven. I think they’ve taken it seriously..."

Khashoggi, a Saudi Arabia national who wrote critical columns about the desert kingdom in the Washington Post, was brutally murdered and dismembered in the consulate on October 2 as he went to register his marriage with his Turkish girlfriend. His body hasn't been found yet.

The Saudi Arabia regime has blamed murder on rogue operators working independent of the state.

Khosrowshahi later wrote on Twitter: "There's no forgiving or forgetting what happened to Jamal Khashoggi & I was wrong to call it a 'mistake.'"

"I said something in the moment I don't believe. Our investors have long known my views here & I'm sorry I wasn’t as clear on Axios."

Khashoggi's killing sparked a global uproar, tarnishing the image of Saudi crown prince Mohammed bin Salman.

The CIA and some Western governments have said they believe the crown prince ordered Khashoggi's killing. Prince Mohammed has denied that but said he bore ultimate responsibility as the country's de facto leader.

Asked about the CIA's assessment of the crown prince's involvement, Khosrowshahi said: "I didn't read that part of the CIA report ... but I think from a Saudi perspective, they're just like any other shareholder."

Saudi sovereign wealth fund Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia (PIF) acquired a 5 percent stake in Uber in 2016 worth $3.5 billion. Its chairman sits on the board.

Khosrowshahi took the reins of Uber after the ouster of ride-hailing firm's co-founder and CEO Travis Kalanick from the company in 2017.

With agency inputs

First Published:Nov 12, 2019 7:50 AM IST