‘JOURNO KILLED IN SAUDI CONSULATE’
Jamal Khashoggi allegedly dismembered by suspects linked to Saudi crown prince
UNITED States Secretary of State Mike Pompeo yesterday held talks with the Turkish leadership here over the disappearance of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi as Riyadh faced new claims he was killed inside its Istanbul consulate.
Pro-government Turkish media published gruesome new allegations Khashoggi was killed by being gradually dismembered by a Saudi assassination squad, some of whom the New York Times said were tied to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
But the US has refused to rebuke its ally despite the mounting claims, with President Donald Trump insisting on the principle of innocence before being proven guilty and Pompeo saying after talks in Riyadh: “I don’t want to talk about any of the facts.”
Despite the lurid allegations published in media loyal to him, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has also taken a circumspect line in the case, saying his priority is to uncover the truth through an investigation.
The controversy has blown a massive hole in attempts by Prince Mohammed to promote himself as a modern reformer and led to a spate of cancellations from a major Riyadh investment conference scheduled next week.
Khashoggi has not been seen since he stepped inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on Oct 2 to sort out paperwork for his upcoming marriage to a Turkish woman.
Saudi consul Mohammed alOtaibi left Istanbul for Riyadh on Tuesday, with Ankara insisting he had not been expelled and left by his own choice.
Turkish police on Monday night undertook an eight hour search at the consulate, taking away soil and DNA samples.
Pompeo came to Ankara fresh from talks in Riyadh where he held a 20-minute meeting with King Salman and a far longer meeting with Prince Mohammed, where the pair shook hands and smiled.
He said before arriving in Ankara that in Saudi Arabia he stressed the “importance of them conducting a complete investigation into the disappearance” and Riyadh had vowed to do this.
Several US media reported on Monday that the Saudis are preparing a report that Khashoggi’s death resulted from a botched interrogation. However there has yet to be any sign of this being published.
Pro-government Turkish daily Yeni Safak reported that it had heard audio recordings of Khashoggi being tortured during an interrogation, having his fingers cut off and then being decapitated.
It said al-Otaibi could 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 return to Saudi Arabia, be quiet.”
The New York Times reported on Tuesday that a suspect identified by Turkey was a frequent companion of the prince.
Three other suspects were linked to his security detail and a fifth was a high-level forensic doctor, the Times said.
International Monetary Fund chief Christine Lagarde was the latest to pull out of Prince Mohammed’s much-trumpeted investment conference next week.