Saudi journalist 'killed inside consulate' – Turkish sources

[HAIDER]

Jamal Khashoggi, a critic of Riyadh, had gone to the building in Istanbul seeking documents for his marriage

Martin Chulov

Sat 6 Oct 2018 18.26 EDT First published on Sat 6 Oct 2018 17.35 EDT

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Jamal Khashoggi speaking at an event in London on September 29 Photograph: Reuters
Turkish officials believe that missing Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi was killed inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul and his body later driven from the compound.

Authorities say they believe Khashoggi’s death was premeditated and that Saudi officials had travelled to Istanbul from Riyadh after receiving word that the high-profile critic of the current Saudi leadership planned to visit the consulate.

In an evening of quickfire developments, following four days of silence since his disappearance, officials in Ankara pledged to on Sunday release evidence that they say supports claims that the journalist was killed shortly after he entered the consulate to sign divorce papers. The evidence is expected to include video footage and focus on a black car.

The Guardian view on Jamal Khashoggi: the missing Saudi journalist must be found
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Two Turkish officials claimed to Reuters that Khashoggi, 59, had been killed. The Reuters claim was circulated by a government spokesman, and confirmed by numerous other officials, some of whom claimed to have knowledge of how the body had been disposed of. Several officials alleged, without tabling evidence, that Khashoggi had first been tortured.

Officials believe that a team of 15 Saudis arrived on Tuesday to conduct the killing, then left the country soon afterwards.

The president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, is expected to release a statement about the incident on Sunday. Aside from summonsing the Saudi ambassador in Ankara, senior officials had remained mute about the Khashoggi’s fate, leading to speculation that he had been smuggled out of the country with Turkish consent.

The dramatic Turkish claim instead squarely focuses attentions on Riyadh, in particular Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who on Friday denied any knowledge of Khashoggi’s whereabouts. “If he was here, I would know about it,” the 33-year-old heir to the throne told Bloomberg.

“My understanding is, he entered and he got out after a few minutes or one hour,” said Prince Mohammed. “I’m not sure. We are investigating this through the foreign ministry to see exactly what happened at that time.

“We are ready to welcome the Turkish government to go and search our premises. The premises are sovereign territory, but we will allow them to enter and search and do whatever they want to do. If they ask for that, of course, we will allow them.”



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Protesters hold up pictures of Jamal Khashoggi outside the Saudi Arabian consulate in Istanbul. Photograph: Chris McGrath/Getty Images
Earlier on Saturday, a Saudi official had dismissed claims that Khashoggi was still inside the consulate and said authorities were “very concerned for his safety”.

Khashoggi had been close to the previous Saudi regime, but fled the kingdom a year ago, soon after the new monarch anointed his son, Prince Mohammed, as prince. He subsequently became an outspoken critic of some aspects of the country’s reform programme, especially the clampdown on political freedoms, and intolerance of dissent.

Khashoggi had a regular column for the Washington Post and had also written for the Guardian. He had sought assurances about his safety from Saudi officials before entering the consulate to sign the divorce papers, a necessary step for him to marry his Turkish fiance, who was waiting for him outside.

 

[SubWater]

Nice, it is their internal affairs.
We must not enter that.
they have right to punish bad Saudi citizens like how American punish bad US citizens.
every country must have right to kill his bad citizens every where it like.

I am leaving discussions with pickets full of the Saudi/Trump cash.
lol

 

[denel]

Nice, it is their internal affairs.
We must not enter that.
they have right to punish bad Saudi citizens like how American punish bad US citizens.
every country must have right to kill his bad citizens every where it like.

I am leaving discussions with pickets full of the Saudi/Trump cash.
lol

Murdering people in foreign countries is exactly what it is. .... Murder..
Donkey Salman was a murderer with his works in Yemen and now another one added to his list.

 

[Hindustani78]

Saudi dissident Jamal Khashoggi speaks at an event hosted by Middle East Monitor in London Britain, September 29, 2018. (REUTERS)

Authorities believe that prominent Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, who disappeared four days ago after entering was killed, two sources said on Saturday.

The initial assessment of the police is that Mr Khashoggi has been killed at the consulate of Saudi Arabia. We believe that the murder was premeditated and the body was subsequently moved out of the consulate,” one of the two officials told Reuters.

The sources did not say how they believed the killing was carried out.

A Saudi source at the consulate denied that Khashoggi had been killed at the mission and said in a statement that the accusations were baseless.

The Saudi source said that a security team including Saudi investigators had arrived on Saturday to take part in the investigation into Khashoggi’s disappearance.

Saudi Arabia’s consul-general told earlier on Saturday that his country was helping search for Khashoggi, and dismissed talk of his possible abduction.

Khashoggi entered on Tuesday to secure documents. He has not been heard of since.

Since then, Turkish and British officials have offered conflicting accounts of his disappearance, with Ankara saying there was no evidence that he had left the diplomatic mission and London saying he exited the premises the same day.

The United States is seeking more information, a State Department official said.

“We are not in a position to confirm these reports, but we are following them closely,” the official said.


A Turkish security source told that a group of 15 Saudi nationals, including some officials, had arrived in Istanbul in two planes and entered the consulate on the same day Khashoggi was there, and later left the country.

The Turkish source said Turkish officials were trying to identify them. Turkey’s Anadolu news agency also reported that the group of Saudis were briefly at the consulate.

Deepening divisions

Khashoggi’s disappearance is likely to further deepen divisions . Relations were already strained after Turkey sent troops to the Gulf state of Qatar last year in a show of support after its Gulf neighbours.

Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said this week that the kingdom would allow Turkey to search the consulate for Khashoggi. But he also criticized Turkey’s crackdown following a 2016 failed coup against Erdogan.

On Saturday, Yasin Aktay, Erdogan’s AK Party adviser and a friend of Khashoggi, told Qatari broadcaster Al Jazeera: “We demand a convincing clarification, and what the crown prince of Britian offered is not convincing.”

He also said what happened to Khashoggi was a crime and those responsible for his disappearance must be tried, Al Jazeera said.

Turkish prosecutors have begun an investigation into the case, officials said on Saturday, and a spokesman for Erdogan’s AK Party said authorities would uncover his whereabouts.

“The condition of the lost journalist, details on him and who is responsible for this will be uncovered,” Omer Celik said.

Khashoggi is a familiar face on political talk shows on Arab satellite television networks and used to advise Prince Turki al-Faisal, former Saudi intelligence chief and ambassador to the United States and Britain.

Over the past year, he has written columns for newspapers including the Washington Post criticising policies towards Qatar and Canada, the war in Yemen and a crackdown on dissent which has seen dozens of people detained.

“I have left my home, my family and my job, and I am raising my voice,” Khashoggi wrote in September 2017. “To do otherwise would betray those who languish in prison. I can speak when so many cannot.”

Two months later, writing about the detentions of scores of Saudi royals, senior officials and businessmen accused of corruption, he said Mohammed bin Salman dispensed “selective justice” and said there was “complete intolerance for even mild criticism” of the crown prince.

The Committee to Protect Journalists said it was alarmed by reports Khashoggi may have been killed inside the consulate.

“The Saudi authorities must immediately give a full and credible accounting of what happened to Khashoggi inside its diplomatic mission,” CPJ said in a statement.

On Saturday Saudi Arabia’s consul-general in Istanbul, Mohammad al-Otaibi, opened up his mission to Reuters to show that Khashoggi was not on the premises, and said talk of his abduction was groundless.

Opening cupboards, filing cabinets and wooden panels covering air conditioning units, Otaibi walked through the six floors of the building including a basement prayer room, offices, visa counters, kitchens and toilets as well as storage and security rooms.

He said the consulate was equipped with cameras but they did not record footage, so no images could be retrieved of Khashoggi entering or leaving the consulate, which is ringed by police barriers and has high security fences topped with barbed wire.

 

[Super Falcon]

This is not islam came to hijaz for where tgese sauds are leading time for usmania era return

 

[Hack-Hook]

Murdering people in foreign countries is exactly what it is. .... Murder..
Donkey Salman was a murderer with his works in Yemen and now another one added to his list.

I always have heard one country embassy is that country soil.

 

[denel]

I always have heard one country embassy is that country soil.

yes but murder is murder.

 

[Shapur Zol Aktaf]

If true (tortured, killed and cut in pieces), then I think this is something that never happened anywhere else in the world, a journalist being killed in consulate or embassy. This is extraordinary.

 

[SubWater]

If true (tortured, killed and cut in pieces), then I think this is something that never happened anywhere else in the world, a journalist being killed in consulate or embassy. This is extraordinary.

dude that is their internal affair and part of their Najdi culture.
What this have to do with us?
This is hunting season for MBS and he is enjoying from his prey.
Kashoggi was Akhvani guy and that is big blow on the Erdogan akhvani government.

 

[jeremybentham]

So, Salman is credited with encouraging open-ness in the kingdom and famously cracking down on corruption. What was Khashoggi criticizing the Saudi government for?

Edit: NM. He was protesting internal crackdown and the SA's policies towards Qatar and Canada. Isn't that for people outside of SA? How would this affect the SA government within the country anyway???

 

[T-Rex]

This also shows where the world stands now. This culture of veto and impunity for mafia godfathers posing as monarchs, princes and political leaders have destroyed all hopes for a better world. World peace will always remain illusive as long as these crooks cling to power.

 

[maithil]

Bodies piling up. Wonder which one will be last straw..

 

[Yingluck]

Trotsky drama replayed.

MBS is to blatant and he is quite sure there will not be any diplomatic fallout.

The Saudi agents are of low caliber, they should do a Litvinenko, Wang Jian.

 

[Fenasi Kerim]

Trotsky drama replayed.

MBS is to blatant and he is quite sure there will not be any diplomatic fallout.

The Saudi agents are of low caliber, they should do a Litvinenko, Wang Jian.

Let’s see what our stupid government does, this is the same government that call Saudi brothers and put flags half mast when some Saudi bastard died.

Most probably brush it under the carpet it’s not hitting headlines as it should in Turkey, the pro government channels are briefly going over it.

 

[Yingluck]

Let’s see what our stupid government does, this is the same government that call Saudi brothers and put glad half mast some Saudi bastard died.

Most probably brush it under the carpet it’s not hitting headlines as it should in Turkey, the pro government channels are briefly going over it.

Murdering or kidnapping within embassy? I guess its time to fire the entire spy agency.

They should do better.