U.S. asks Turkey for audio evidence
Newspaper describes the alleged torture, killing of journalist
WASHINGTON — The U.S. has asked Turkey for a recording that could reveal gruesome details of what happened to Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, President Donald Trump said Wednesday. But he’s not confirming there is any such recording, as reported by Turkish media, and he’s continuing to urge patience while Saudi Arabia says it’s investigating.
Asked about a recording described by the Turkish newspaper Yeni Safak, Mr. Trump said, “We’ve asked for it, if it exists.” At another point, he said, “I’m not sure — yet — that it exists.”
The account published in Yeni Safak alleged that Saudi officials cut off Mr. Khashoggi’s fingers and then decapitated him at the consulate as his fiancée waited outside.
Mr. Trump, who threatened punishment for Saudi Arabia when Mr. Khashoggi’s disappearance first came to light two weeks ago, has repeatedly noted Saudi leaders’ denials since then and insisted the U.S. must know the facts before taking action.
But when asked if he was “giving cover” to the Saudi leaders, he said Wednesday that
he was not.
“No, not at all,” he declared.
Saudi officials have not responded to repeated requests for comment from the AP in recent days, including Wednesday.
Saudi Arabia, a key U.S. ally in the Mideast, is under pressure to explain what happened to Mr. Khashoggi, a Washington Post contributor living in the U.S. who had been critical of the crown prince. Turkish officials have said he was murdered, and the Turkish newspaper’s report said an audio recording revealed gory details about Mr. Khashoggi’s demise inside the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul.
Mr. Trump has repeated denials by the Saudi king and crown prince that they knew anything about Mr. Khashoggi’s fate, and he has warned of a rush to judgment.
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, dispatched by Mr. Trump to the region, said the U.S. takes Mr. Khashoggi’s disappearance seriously.
Wrapping up his trip to Riyadh and Ankara to discuss the crisis over the missing journalist, Mr. Pompeo made a point to stress areas where the kingdom and America cooperate.
A day earlier, Mr. Pompeo met with the king and crown prince in Riyadh and said the Saudis had already started a “serious and credible investigation” and seemed to suggest it could lead to people within the kingdom. The secretary of state noted that the Saudi leaders, while denying knowledge of anything that occurred inside the consulate, had committed to accountability “including for Saudi Arabia’s senior leaders or senior officials.”
Meanwhile, at the same time the pro-government newspaper in Turkey published a gruesome account of the journalist’s alleged slaying, Turkish crime-scene investigators searched the home of the Saudi consul general in Istanbul on Wednesday.
As Saudi Arabia’s green national flag flapped overhead, forensics teams entered the residence, only 1⅕
miles from the consulate where Mr. Khashoggi vanished Oct. 2 while trying to pick up paperwork to get married. It was the second-such extraordinary search of a site considered under international law to be sovereign Saudi territory after investigators spent hours in the consulate earlier this week.
Police apparently thought they would be able to conduct the search Tuesday, but Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said Saudi officials had halted the earlier search, claiming that Consul General Mohammed al-Otaibi’s family was still there.
Mr. al-Otaibi left Turkey on Tuesday, Turkish state media reported.
Investigators also re-entered the consulate Wednesday night.
A high-level Turkish official previously told The Associated Press that police found “certain evidence” of Mr. Khashoggi’s slaying at the consulate, without elaborating. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigation was ongoing.
The report by Yeni Safak cited what it described as an audio recording of Mr. Khashoggi’s slaying. It described the recording as offering evidence that a Saudi team immediately accosted the 60-year-old journalist after he entered the consulate.
Mr. al-Otaibi could be heard on the tape, telling those allegedly torturing Mr. Khashoggi: “Do this outside; you’re going to get me in trouble,” the newspaper reported.
One of the Saudis reportedly replied: “Shut up if you want to live when you return to [Saudi] Arabia.”