Turkish media say video shows Saudi assassins

ISTANBUL — Two Gulfstream jets carrying 15 Saudis landed at Istanbul’s Ataturk Airport before dawn on the day last week that journalist Jamal Khashoggi entered the Saudi Consulate and vanished.

The men checked into hotels and left Turkey later that night.

Turkish media, which released surveillance camera video of the men on Wednesday, said they were members of an elite Saudi “assassination squad,” sent to kill Khashoggi, a Saudi critic.

Saudi Arabia remained silent at the accusation as the images were seen around the world, raising pressure on the kingdom to explain what happened to the writer, a critic of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

Adding to the macabre mystery, a Turkish official said one member of the team was an “autopsy expert.”

Saudi Arabia has dismissed allegations it played a role in Khashoggi’s disappearance as “baseless.”

But it has offered no evidence to support its contention he left the consulate unharmed last week and vanished into Istanbul while his fiancée waited outside.

The video, shown on the staterun broadcaster TRT and others, did not offer definitive proof about Khashoggi’s fate.

Turkish officials have said they fear the team killed Khashoggi.

President Donald Trump said the U.S. is “demanding” answers from Saudi Arabia about Khashoggi and wants to bring his fiancée, Hatice Cengiz, to the White House.

He added he spoke with the Saudis about what he called a “bad situation,” but he did not disclose details.

Earlier, U.S. officials warned that any harm done to the 59year-old Washington Post contributor will jeopardize its relations with the kingdom, its close ally and the world’s largest oil exporter.

The Turkish security camera video was reminiscent of the surveillance video sleuthing done by officials investigating the assassination of a Hamas operative in Dubai in 2010 or the slaying of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s half brother in Malaysia in 2017.

The silent video showed one of two private Gulfstream jets that Turkish media said carried the Saudi group, who flew in and out of Istanbul on Oct. 2.

The Sabah newspaper, which is close to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, published images of what it referred to as the “assassination squad,” apparently taken at passport control at the airport.

The state-run Anadola news agency published the names and birth dates of all 15 Saudis.

The footage shows some of the Saudis leaving a hotel and Khashoggi entering the consulate, walking past a black Mercedes van with diplomatic plates parked adjacent to the entrance.

An hour and 54 minutes later, according to the time stamp, a black Mercedes van drives about two kilometres to the consul’s home, where it was parked in a garage.

The footage all seemed to come from surveillance cameras, which would have been located throughout the neighbourhood housing the Saudi consulate and other diplomatic missions.

However, no footage has emerged of Khashoggi leaving the consulate.

Two Turkish officials, speaking on condition of anonymity confirmed the authenticity of the images in the Turkish media.