Saudi ‘ hit squad’ included royal guards, soldiers
■ Turkish officials believe that Saudi assassins dismembered Khashoggi’s body and left no evidence
Saudi royal guards, intelligence officers, soldiers and an autopsy expert were part of a 15- member team from the kingdom that targeted missing writer Jamal Khashoggi, Turkish media said on Thursday. The
Washington Post contributor vanished last week while visiting the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul.
Turkish officials say they fear Saudi Arabia killed and dismembered Mr Khashoggi, without offering evidence explaining why they believe that. Mr Khashoggi contributed columns to the Post, including some critical of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
Saudi Arabia, before going silent in recent days, called the allegation it abducted or harmed Mr Khashoggi “baseless.” However, it too has offered no evidence to support its claim the writer simply walked out of its consulate and vanished despite his fiancée waiting outside for him.
Information continues to trickle out through Turkish media about the 15- man Saudi team previously described as an “assassination squad.” These leaks, largely matching across Turkey’s state- run media and private Erdogan- linked outlets, likely come from the country’s security services as another means to pressure the kingdom over Mr Khashoggi’s October 2 disappearance.
The first plane of nine Saudis arrived from Riyadh around 3: 30 a. m. that day, and included an individual described as a forensics official, according to the Sabah newspaper. One Turkish official, speaking on condition of anonymity to The Associated Press to discuss an ongoing police investigation, previously described that official as an “autopsy expert.”
The other six flew in on commercial flights, according to a list obtained by Sabah, which also published their names and faces. Local media described the Saudis being military and intelligence officers, as well as several “royal guards.” Around the time Mr Khashoggi entered the consulate, a second private plane from Riyadh took off for Istanbul.