Handshake that chills the blood
With utter cynicism, Saudi crown prince greets son of the arch critic ‘murdered by his hit squad’
IN a scene of stage-managed cynicism, Jamal Khashoggi’s son yesterday had to shake hands with the Saudi royal who has been widely blamed for his father’s brutal murder.
Salah bin Jamal Khashoggi was invited to Riyadh with other family members, and was pictured locking eyes with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, 33, whose bodyguards were part of the 15-man hit squad that killed his father in Istanbul.
The highly publicised meeting came as Turkey president Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the ‘savage’ killing of Mr Khashoggi had been planned days in advance.
As Mr Erdogan rubbished Saudi Arabia’s claim that the journalist had died by accident in a ‘fist fight’:
Turkish investigators found possessions belonging to Mr Khashoggi in suitcases in an abandoned Saudi consulate vehicle;
Body parts were allegedly found in a well in the garden of the Saudi consul general’s home in Istanbul;
Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt and his G7 counterparts condemned the killing in the ‘strongest possible terms’;
‘This savage murder was planned’
The prince pulled out of making a speech at the so- called ‘ Davos in the desert’ conference after the investment event was boycotted by many officials. Video released by the state-run Saudi Press Agency yesterday showed King Salman and the crown prince shaking Salah Khashoggi’s hand. The meeting came after the Saudi royals phoned Salah, the eldest son of Mr Khashoggi, to express their condolences.
Salah, who lives in the Saudi city of Jeddah, has been unable to travel out of the kingdom for several months to visit his father, who was living in the US in self-imposed exile. This is because his passport was invalidated, according to a source close to the family.
Mr Erdogan also spoke by phone to Mr Khashoggi’s family members and sent them condolences.
He pledged that Turkey would do all it could to solve his murder, presidential sources said.
Mr Erdogan raised the stakes in his dispute with Saudi Arabia over what he described as a ‘political murder’, although he stopped short of directly blaming the prince. He called it a ‘pre-meditated’ killing, and said three Saudis had arrived in Turkey the day before to carry out reconnaissance missions.
He said he would not accept the Saudi explanation that the killing of the 59-year-old journalist was a botched operation carried out by rogue intelligence officials.
Mr Erdogan, who said the trial of the accused must be held in Turkey, added: ‘It is clear that this savage murder did not happen instantly but was planned.’
In an excoriating statement, he said: ‘Pinning such a case on some security and intelligence members will not satisfy us or the international community.’ Mr Khashoggi went missing on October 2 when he entered the consulate in Istanbul to obtain paperwork for his forthcoming marriage.
Mr Erdogan confirmed key details of the killing, including the fact Saudi Arabia used a body double of Mr Khashoggi who dressed in his clothes. He revealed a timeline of events, saying that the fact Mr Khashoggi would be visiting the consulate was ‘passed on to the team planning the murder’.
He added: ‘Therefore, a planning period for a road map begins.’
He said a three-person team arrived in Istanbul the day before Mr Khashoggi’s murder and checked into a hotel before heading to the consulate.
Another team from the consulate carried out ‘ exploratory searches in the Belgrad forest and Yalova’. Turkish police have searched the woodland area.
He also confirmed that the harddisk in the camera system at the consulate had been ‘ripped out’.
The crown prince, who said there was ‘nothing to hide’ a day after Mr Khashoggi went missing, has been in the spotlight over the death of the journalist.
At least seven members of the 15-strong hit squad were believed to have been from his personal security detail. Mr Erdogan did not implicate the prince directly in the killing but he pointedly omitted his name when he referred to the ‘sincerity’ of King Salman.
In a further development, Dogu Perincek, leader of Turkey’s Rodina party, said body parts belonging to Mr Khashoggi were discovered in a well.
Prime Minister Theresa May was said to be ‘deeply disturbed’ by the reports.
Mr Hunt and his G7 counterparts released a statement, saying: ‘Saudi Arabia must put in place measures to ensure something like this can never happen again.’
US vice-president Mike Pence vowed last night to press Saudi Arabia for answers, saying: ‘The world is watching.
‘ The American people want answers and we will demand that those answers are forthcoming.’