Saudi scribe ‘tortured, decapitated’
Jamal Khashoggi’s killers cut his fingers off, said local daily Yeni Safak, claiming it heard audio recordings of incident
ANKARA/WASHINGTON :Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi was tortured before being decapitated inside Riyadh’s consulate in Istanbul, pro-government daily Yeni Safak reported on Wednesday, saying it had heard audio recordings of the incident.
Khashoggi’s alleged killers tortured the journalist during interrogation by cutting his fingers off, Yeni Safak said, claiming it had heard multiple recordings. The newspaper said Khashoggi, a Washington Post contributor, was then decapitated.
Khashoggi vanished after entering the consulate for official documents ahead of his upcoming wedding to his Turkish fiancee. While Turkish police believe he was killed by a special team of 15 Saudi officials, Riyadh has dismissed such claims as “baseless”.
One of the members of the Saudi team has been reported to be Salah Muhammed Al-Tubaigy, a lieutenant-colonel in the Saudi forensic department.
The Washington Post has previously cited unnamed US and Turkish officials pointing to audio and video recordings that supposedly prove Khashoggi was killed inside the consulate and was then dismembered.
But this is the first time Turkish media have claimed to hear the tapes. Pro-government newspaper Sabah reported at the weekend that Khashoggi’s Apple Watch recorded his interrogation, torture and killing, although some experts have said it is not likely that the watch could have recorded the events in the manner described.
According to Yeni Safak, Saudi Arabia’s consul to Istanbul, Mohammed al-Otaibi, can be heard on one tape saying during Khashoggi’s torture: “Do this outside. You are going to get me in trouble.”
The daily reported that in another tape, an unknown individual tells Otaibi: “If you want to live when you come to Saudi Arabia, be quiet!”
Yeni Safak did not say how the tapes came into existence or how it obtained them.
But the Middle East Eye website quoted a Turkish source saying that there was “no attempt to interrogate” Khashoggi but the Saudi team had “come to kill him”.
The source told the Englishlanguage site that his death took seven minutes with Tubaigy beginning to cut the body “while Khashoggi was still alive”.
Tubaigy then reportedly listened to music during the killing.
Consul Otaibi left Istanbul on Tuesday for Riyadh ahead of a planned search of his residence as part of the official Turkish investigation into Khashoggi’s disappearance.
On Monday, CNN cited two sources as saying the Saudis are preparing a report that Khashoggi’s death resulted from a botched interrogation.
SUSPECTS LINKED TO CROWN PRINCE: REPORT
One of the suspects identified by Turkey in the disappearance of Khashoggi was a frequent companion of the kingdom’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the media reported.
Three other suspects were linked to Prince Mohammed’s security detail and a fifth was a forensic doctor, holding senior positions in the Saudi Interior Ministry and medical establishment, the New York Times reported on Tuesday.
One suspect, Maher Abdulaziz Mutreb, was a diplomat assigned to the Saudi Embassy in London in 2007, according to a British diplomatic roster.
He travelled extensively with the Crown Prince, perhaps as a bodyguard, the report said.
According to the Times, the other three suspects were Abdulaziz Mohammed al-Hawsawi -a member of the security team that travels with the crown prince; Thaar Ghaleb al-Harbi, and Muhammed Saad Alzahrani.
Two people with the same names -- Al-Harbi and Alzahrani -were identified as members of the Saudi Royal Guard, the Times said.
The fifth suspect was Salah al-Tubaigy - an autopsy expert, who the Times said identified himself on Twitter as the head of the Saudi Scientific Council of Forensics.
IMF CHIEF TO SKIP SAUDI INVESTMENT MEET
International Monetary Fund chief Christine Lagarde has postponed a planned trip to the Middle East with a stop in Saudi Arabia for an investment conference, after Khashoggi’s disappearance.