Saudi prosecutor says Kashoggi murder was premeditated
CAIRO — Suspects in the murder of Jamal Khashoggi at Riyadh’s consulate in Turkey earlier this month acted intentionally, Saudi Arabia’s chief prosecutor said on Thursday.
The statement contradicts the earlier official line that the Saudi dissident journalist was killed in a “fistfight.”
“Information has come from the Turkish side indicating that the suspects in the Khashoggi case embarked on their act with a premeditated intention,” the prosecutor Saudi bin Abdullah added in a statement, carried by the state Saudi news agency SPA.
“The public prosecution continues its investigations with the accused in light of what it has received and the results of its inquiry,” he added without giving further details.
On Saturday, Saudi Arabia acknowledged the death of Khashoggi, a Washington Post columnist, inside its consulate in Istanbul, ending two weeks of denials that it was not involved in his Oct. 2 disappearance.
The kingdom’s foreign minister later described the death as “murder” carried out in a “rogue operation.”
The whereabouts of Khashoggi’s body remains unknown.
Khashoggi, a sharp critic of the powerful Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, has not been seen since he walked into the consulate in order to get paperwork done to marry a Turkish woman.
The journalist’s murder triggered global outrage, prompting the oil-rich monarchy to announce the arrests of 18 suspects and the sacking of several senior intelligence officials.
Prince Mohammed on Wednesday condemned Khashoggi’s killing as a “heinous and very painful” crime, vowing that justice will prevail in the high-profile case.
The murder has clouded Saudi ties with the West amid calls for sanctions on the world’s top oil exporter.
Turkish prosecutors have so far taken statements from 38 employees at Saudi Arabia’s consulate in Istanbul as part of the probe into the killing of Khashoggi, state news agency Anadolu reported Thursday.
The workers were asked whether they witnessed anything extraordinary on the day of Khashoggi’s death or had seen Khashoggi or the 15 alleged perpetrators, according to the report.
Another five employees still have to be questioned, the report added. It was not clear if the workers were only Turkish employees.
The Washington Post reported late Wednesday that CIA Director Gina Haspel listened to the audio recordings of Khashoggi’s murder during her visit to Turkey.
The report cited an unnamed source as calling the audio evidence “compelling,” adding that it could put further pressure on the United States to hold Saudi Arabia accountable for Khashoggi’s death.
It remains unclear who played the recordings for Haspel. Ankara has not yet officially confirmed or denied the Washington Post report.
For the past three weeks, pro-government Turkish media have been publishing leaked information on the investigation and details of alleged recordings on an almost daily basis.
The reports have claimed Khashoggi was tortured and murdered by a 15-member “hit squad” from Saudi Arabia.
The Turkish government has so far declined to elaborate on the alleged audio recordings.