‘Suspects in Khashoggi case tied to top prince’

> US media reports raise doubts about ‘rogue killers’ claim

WASHINGTON: A suspect identified by Turkey in the disappearance of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi was a frequent companion of the kingdom’s powerful Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, The New York Times said on Tuesday.

Three other suspects are linked to Prince Mohammed’s security detail and a fifth is a highlevel forensic doctor, the Times said.

The account, and a similar report in The Washington Post, could raise doubts about Donald Trump’s claim that “rogue killers” might have been responsible for Khashoggi’s disappearance.

The US president made the comment after he said Saudi King Salman strongly denied to him any knowledge of what happened.

Khashoggi, who contributed to The Post and criticised policies of Salman’s son Mohammed, has not been seen since Oct 2, when he went to the Saudi consulate in Istanbul to obtain official documents for marriage.

Turkish government sources have said police believe he was killed by a special team of 15 Saudi officials sent to Istanbul especially for the task. Riyadh insists that he left the consulate safely. The Times said it confirmed that at least nine of the 15 worked for the Saudi security services, military or other government ministries.

The Times said it gathered more information on the suspects through facial recognition software, a database of Saudi cellphone numbers, leaked Saudi government documents, witnesses and media.

One suspect, Maher Abdulaziz Mutreb, was a diplomat assigned to the Saudi embassy in London in 2007, it said, citing a British diplomatic roster.

Mutreb, perhaps a bodyguard, has been photographed emerging from planes with the prince on recent trips to Madrid and Paris, and also standing guard during Prince Mohammed’s visits in the US to Houston, Boston and the UN.

It said three other suspects are Abdulaziz Mohammed al-Hawsawi – a member of the security team that travels with the prince – Thaar Ghaleb al-Harbi, and Muhammed Saad Alzahrani.

Al-Harbi and Alzahrani have the same names as two people identified as members of the Saudi Royal Guard while the fifth suspect is an autopsy expert, Salah al-Tubaigy, who the Times said identified himself on Twitter as the head of the Saudi Scientific Council of Forensics. – AFP