‘I can’t breathe, Khashoggi told killers before death’

SAUDI WILL NOT EXTRADITE SUSPECTS

: Journalist Jamal Khashoggi repeatedly told his killers “I can’t breathe” during his final moments in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, CNN reported on Monday.

Quoting a source who said they had read the full translated transcript of an audio recording, CNN said that Khashoggi recognised one of the men, Gen Maher Mutreb, who told him: “You are coming back”. Khashoggi replied: “You can’t do that...people are waiting outside.”

His Turkish fiancee Hatice Cengiz waited for hours outside the consulate on October 2 and, when he did not return, contacted Turkish authorities about his disappearance.

There was no further dialogue in the relatively short transcript, prepared by Turkish authorities, CNN’s source said.

As people set upon Khashoggi, he started fighting for air, repeating, “I can’t breathe” at least three times. The transcript then used singular words to describe the noises, including “scream”, “gasping”, “saw”, and “cutting”.

Turkish sources told Reuters a bone saw was used to dismember the journalist.

The transcript included no further mention of returning Khashoggi

ISTANBUL

Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister has rejected demands to extradite suspects connected to the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi as sought by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. “We do not extradite our citizens,” Adel al-Jubeir told a news conference in Riyadh on Sunday at the end of a summit of Gulf Cooperation Council states. Erdogan has repeatedly called on Saudi Arabia to hand over suspects in the killing of the dissident journalist.

A Turkish court on Wednesday issued arrest warrants for former Saudi intelligence chief Ahmad al-Assiri and former adviser to the royal court Saud al-Qahtani, at the request of Istanbul’s chief to Saudi Arabia, and no indication that he had been drugged - as Saudi Arabia’s public prosecutor said in November.

One of the voices was identified in the transcript by Turkish authorities as Dr. Salah al-Tubaigy, a forensic expert specialized in autopsies attached to the Saudi Ministry of Interior, CNN reported. prosecutor. Assiri often sat in during Prince Mohammed’s closed-door meetings with visiting foreign dignitaries and Qahtani was a key counsellor to the crown prince. Both were sacked after Riyadh admitted Khashoggi was killed in its consulate.

“Turkish authorities have not been as forthcoming as we believe they should have been,” said Jubeir, saying Riyadh was presented with information that had already been leaked to the media.

“We have asked our friends in Turkey to provide us with evidence that we can use in a court of law. We have not received it in the manner that it should have been received.” AFP

Tubaigy tells others to put in earphones or listen to music like him, the CNN source said.

Mutreb, a senior intelligence officer who is part of the security team of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, called officials and gave step-by-step details of the operation, CNN reported, finally saying: “Tell yours, the thing is done, it’s done”.