Saudi hitmen ‘used acid to dissolve body of Khashoggi’

SAUDI Arabian hitmen dissolved Jamal Khashoggi’s body in acid after it was cut up, according to a top Turkish official.

Yasin Aktay, a presidential adviser, said the ‘only logical conclusion’ was that the journalist’s body had been destroyed ‘to leave no trace behind’.

He told a Turkish newspaper yesterday: ‘We now see that it wasn’t just cut up, they got rid of the body by dissolving it.

‘According to the latest information we have, the reason they cut up the body is it was easier to dissolve it.’

The claim echoed what a Turkish official had told the Washington Post – for which Khashoggi was a contributor.

The official said authorities are investigating a theory the body was destroyed in acid.

Khashoggi, a leading critic of the Saudi regime, was murdered in the Istanbul consulate on October 2 by a 15-strong hit squad flown in from Saudi Arabia.

He had gone inside to obtain paperwork for his forthcoming marriage as his fiancée waited for him outside.

His murder has sparked a diplomatic crisis for the Gulf kingdom and its Western allies.

World leaders have called on the Saudis to reveal the location of Khashoggi’s body.

Mr Aktay, who was close to the journalist, said: ‘They aimed to ensure that no sign of the body was left.’

Turkey has called for Saudi Arabia to hand over those responsible but the kingdom has said it will carry out its own investigation.

‘Aimed to ensure no sign was left’