DISSIDENT WAS ‘SLAUGHTERED IN 7 MINUTES’
JAMAL Khashoggi was killed in Saudi Arabia’s Istanbul consulate in just seven minutes, a leaked audio recording of his death has allegedly revealed.
The 59-year-old journalist was dragged from the consul general’s office and on to the table of his study next door, a Turkish source said. He was heard screaming before being injected with an as yet unknown substance, it was reported on Middle East Eye, a news website.
Salah Muhammad al-Tubaigy, identified as head of forensic evidence in the Saudi general security department, then allegedly cut up Mr Khashoggi’s body while he was still alive – all to music.
Describing the murder, the source said: ‘The consul himself was taken out of the room. There was no attempt to interrogate him. They had come to kill him.’
Mr al-Tubaigy is said to have been in a 15strong hit squad that flew into Istanbul on a private jet. According to a leaked recording, as he dismembered the body, he put on earphones and listened to music. The murder of the dissident journalist apparently took seven minutes.
Earlier yesterday it emerged that the consul-general had flown out of Istanbul ahead of a search of his residence. Speaking to reporters yesterday, Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan said investigators were looking into toxic material and ‘painted over material’ at the consulate.
Police entered the building late on Monday – two weeks after Mr Khashoggi’s disappearance – and searched the premises for nine hours. The team was said to include specialists from the anti-terror branch and forensics.
Before they arrived, professional cleaners were seen entering the consulate through the front door.
Turkish foreign minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said: ‘Our aim is very clear: we have to learn what happened to Khashoggi.’