Khashoggi murder: Donald Trump wants audio evidence from Turkey
PROBE Says has sought full report from state secy Mike Pompeo in disappearance of Saudi journalist WASHINGTON
: America has asked Turkey for an audio recording in the suspected murder of Jamal Khashoggi, US President Donald Trump has said as he sought a full report from Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in the dissident Saudi journalist’s mysterious disappearance.
Khashoggi, 60, is feared to have been killed inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. The incident has resulted in a global outrage, more so in the US where he lived as a legal permanent resident and worked for ‘The Washington Post’.
He vanished on October 2 after entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. Turkish authorities suspect he was abducted and murdered by the Saudis. But Riyadh insists that the journalist, a known critic of Saudi King Salman, had left the building and murder claims are “baseless”.
Trump told reporters at the White House that he had asked Turkey for the audio that gives a clue of the alleged brutal killing of Khashoggi. The New York Times, citing the content of the audio made available through its Turkish sources, said the audio gave a detailed account of the alleged brutal murder of Khashoggi. “I’m not sure yet that it exists. Probably does. Possibly does. I’ll have a full report on that from Mike when he comes back,” Trump said, referring to his meeting with Mike Pompeo on his A man who previously travelled with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's entourage to the US entered the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul just before writer Jamal Khashoggi vanished from on October 2, according to images published by a Turkish newspaper
The Sabah newspaper report showed the man walking past police barricades at the consulate with several men trailing behind him
Khashoggi arrived at the consulate, then disappeared while his fiancée waited outside for him return from Saudi Arabia and Turkey. “That’s going to be the first question I ask him.”
On his way back from Saudi Arabia and Turkey, Pompeo refused to comment on the existence of the audio tape. Trump told reporters that he wanted to find out from Pompeo what had happened. “He went to Turkey; he went all over. But he spent a lot of time with the Crown Prince, and he’s going to have a full report. I’m not giving cover at all,” he said, refuting allegations that he is being soft on the Saudi establishment.
The newspaper showed an image of the man at the consul's home
He is shown checking out of a hotel He is seen clearing airport security. A report by the pro-government newspaper Yeni Safak, citing what it described as an audio recording of Khashoggi's slaying, said a Saudi team accosted the journalist after he entered the consulate, cutting off his fingers and later decapitating him