Saudis admit journalist was killed in consulate
Writer died in fist fight Riyadh claims, and says it has arrested 18 Saudis
RIYADH — The Saudi government has acknowledged that journalist Jamal Khashoggi was killed while visiting the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, saying he died during a fist fight. The announcement, which came in a tweet from the Saudi foreign ministry, said that an initial investigation by the government’s general prosecutor found that Khashoggi been in discussions with people inside the consulate when a quarrel broke out, escalating to a fatal fist fight.
The Saudi government said it fired five top officials and arrested18 other Saudis as a result of the initial investigation. Those fired included Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s adviser Saud al-Qahtani and deputy intelligence chief Maj. Gen. Ahmed al-Assiri. The announcement marks the first time that Saudi officials have acknowledged that Khashoggi was killed inside the consulate.
Ever since he disappeared on Oct. 2 while visiting the mission, Saudi officials have repeatedly said that he left the consulate alive and that they had no information about his whereabouts or fate. He had gone to the consulate to obtain a document he needed for an upcoming wedding.
Turkish investigators had concluded days ago that Khashoggi, a contributing columnist to The Washington Post, was killed and dismembered by a Saudi team dispatched to Istanbul. U.S. officials have said that Turkey has audio and video re- cordings providing evidence that he was interrogated, killed and then cut into several pieces.
The Saudi statement said King Salman also ordered creation of a commission to review and “modernize” intelligence operations and report back within a month.
According to a list confirmed by Turkish officials, 15 Saudis flew to Istanbul on the morning of Oct. 2, participated in an operation that left Khashoggi dead and then quickly departed the country. At least 12 members of that team are connected to Saudi security services and several have links to Mohammed himself, according to a review of passport records, social media, local press reports and other material.
Those personal connections and U.S. intelligence intercepts of Saudi officials discussing a plan to lure Khashoggi home have contributed to a growing suspicion that the crown prince was personally linked to the incident. But the Saudi statement did not implicate him in the killing. The preliminary investigation conducted by the prosecutor found that the “suspects” travelled to Istanbul to meet with Khashoggi as he had expressed interest in returning to Saudi Arabia, the official news agency said.
Discussions that took place “developed in a negative way” and “led to a fight and a quarrel between some of them and the citizen,” it said.
“The brawl aggravated to lead to his death and their attempt to conceal and cover what happened,” it said.
Investigations are continuing with the 18 detainees, it said, without naming them.
Qahtani has been one of Mohammed’s closest advisers, serving as a strategist and enforcer. He had been referred to in some quarters as the Saudi Steve Bannon and had created a “blacklist” of online critics of Saudi Arabia. Qahtani had reached out to Khashoggi and attempted to persuade him to come back to Saudi Arabia this summer, when U.S. intelligence officials said there was an attempt to lure him back to the kingdom to detain him.
U.S. President Donald Trump called Saudi Arabia’s announcement a “good first step.”
Trump made the remarks Friday at a meeting with defence industry executives in Arizona, where he boasted about the deals he’s forged with the Saudis and reiterated his opposition to cancelling a $110 billion deal for U.S. weaponry the Saudis intend to buy.
“I think we’re getting close to solving a very big problem,” Trump said, adding that he found the Saudi explanation credible that Khashoggi died after an altercation.
Asked if he felt that Saudi officials had lied to him or top officials in his administration, Trump said he didn’t believe so.
Republican and Democratic lawmakers, however, rejected Saudi Arabia’s account.
“Saudi ‘explanation’ leaves most questions unanswered. Raises more questions. Makes no sense. Can’t be believed,” Republican Representative Peter King of New York, a member of the House Intelligence Committee, said Friday on Twitter.