Killing in the cloud

Reports that journalist recorded his death at hands of Saudis

TURKISH officials have an audio recording of the alleged killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi from the Apple Watch he wore when he walked into the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul more than a week ago, a pro-government Turkish newspaper says.

The new claim, in Sabah newspaper, through which Turkish security officials have leaked information about the case, puts more pressure on Saudi Arabia to explain what happened to Khashoggi.

Ankara’s top diplomat reiterated a call to Saudi Arabia to open its consulate, from where Khashoggi disappeared, for Turkish authorities to search.

The writer, who has been critical of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, vanished after he entered the consulate on October 2.

The kingdom has maintained the allegations against it are “baseless”.

The disappearance has put pressure on US President Donald Trump, who has enjoyed close relations with the Saudis since entering office. Mr Trump has expressed concern about Khashoggi’s fate.

“Our first hope was that he was not killed but maybe that’s not looking too good from what we hear but there’s a lot to learn, there really is,” Mr Trump said. He later said he anticipated speaking to the Saudi ruler at the weekend.

Turkish authorities recovered the audio from Khashoggi’s iPhone and his iCloud account, the newspaper said.

The journalist had given his phones to his fiancee before entering the consulate.

The newspaper also alleged Saudi officials tried to delete the recordings first by incorrectly guessing Khashoggi’s PIN, then later using the journalist’s finger. However, Apple Watches do not have a fingerprint ID unlock function like iPhones. The newspaper did not address that in its report.

An Apple Watch can record audio and synch it with an iPhone over a Bluetooth connection if it is close by.