Saudi investigators ‘removed evidence’

TEAM JOINED KHASHOGGI PROBE

MEMBERS of a team from Saudi Arabia sent to help investigate the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi worked instead to remove evidence, a senior Turkish official has said.

The official confirmed a report in Turkey’s Sabah newspaper that an 11-member team of Saudi investigators that arrived in Turkey nine days after Mr Khashoggi was killed to take part in a joint Turkish-Saudi probe included experts on chemistry and toxicology, who were reportedly charged with obfuscating the evidence.

The official said Turkey believes that two members of the team “came to Turkey for the sole purpose of covering up evidence” before Turkish police were allowed to search the Saudi Consulate, where Mr Khashoggi was killed on October 2 after he entered to collect a document he needed to marry his Turkish fiancee.

The official said the fact that a clean-up team was dispatched suggests that Mr Khashoggi’s killing “was within the knowledge of top Saudi officials”.

The unnamed official also confirmed the Sabah report which identified the two experts as Ahmed Abdulaziz Al-Janobi and Khaled Yahya al-Zahrani.

The information was the latest in a series of leaks from Turkish officials apparently aimed at keeping up the pressure on Saudi Arabia and ensuring that the killing is not covered up.