‘Hitmen targeted missing scribe’
ISTANBUL: Turkish media published images Wednesday of an alleged 15-member Saudi “assassination squad” and video of suspicious movements at the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul following journalist Jamal Khashoggi’s disappearance a week ago, putting new pressure on the kingdom amid growing international concern for the writer.
Saudi Arabia remained silent as the images, though not offering definitive proof about Khashoggi’s fate, played across television networks in Turkey and around the world.
Turkish officials fear the team killed Khashoggi, who wrote critically of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
The kingdom dismisses the allegation as “baseless.”
However, Saudi Arabia has offered no evidence to support its contention that the writer left the consulate unharmed and vanished into Istanbul while his fiancée waited impatiently outside.
Politicians in the US, Riyadh’s main ally, have warned that any harm done to the Washington Post contributor will jeopardise America’s relations with the world’s largest oil exporter.
State-run broadcaster TRT aired video purportedly showing the Saudis arriving by private jet and then leaving a hotel.
The footage shows Khashoggi entering the consulate on October 2.
TRUMP DEMANDS ANSWERS FROM SAUDI
President Donald Trump said he has spoken with Saudi Arabia “at the highest level” about the disappearance.
Trump, speaking to reporters Wednesday in the Oval Office, said that Khashoggi’s fiancée had sent a letter addressed to the president and first lady Melania Trump, and may come to the White House soon.
When asked whether he has spoken to the Saudis, Trump said “I’d rather not say, but the answer is yes.”
Whenaskedwithwhomhehad spoken, Trump declined to provide a name but said it was at “the highest level.” He added that talks had happened “more than once” in recent days.
APPLE WATCH MAY OFFER CRUCIAL CLUES
Two senior Turkish officials revealed the existence of an object that may provide important clues to Khashoggi’s fate: the black Apple watch he was wearing when he entered the consu- late. The watch was connected to a mobile phone he left outside, they said. The 15 Saudi men who entered the consulate around the same time as Khashoggi had arrived hours earlier from Riyadh, most of them by private plane, the officials said.
By the end of the day, they were on their way back to the kingdom.
Turkish newspaper Sabah said on Wednesday it had identified the 15 as members of a Saudi intelligence team. They included a forensic expert. A Turkish official did not dispute the report.
Investigators are trying to trace a vehicle that left the Saudi consulate at the same time as two cars destined for the airport, one of the officials said. This vehicle didn’t turn towards the airport, but set off in the opposite direction.