Footage Shows Body Double
Turkey Plans To Reveal Details From Probe Of Killing
ISTANBUL — Surveillance video recorded by Turkish law enforcement appears to confirm reports that Saudi agents used a body double as part of an attempted cover-up after the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul.
The video — obtained and broadcast by CNN on Monday — purportedly shows a Saudi agent walking out of the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul wearing Khashoggi’s clothes, as well as spectacles and a fake beard, in an apparent attempt to disguise himself as the slain Saudi journalist.
The video was released as pressure intensified on Saudi
officials to explain what happened to Khashoggi, 59, a critic of the Saudi government who had been living in self-exile in Virginia and was in Istanbul to obtain documents for the pending marriage to his Turkish fiancee.
After denying any knowledge of Khashoggi’s death, the Saudi government reversed course Saturday, saying he had accidentally been killed in the consulate after an altercation with a team sent to negotiate his return. But that account has been greeted with suspicion and derision by European leaders and many U.S. politicians.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has promised to reveal details of an extensive investigation into the death Tuesday, in what could be a pivotal moment in the case. Turkish investigators have alleged that 15 Saudi agents killed and dismembered Khashoggi, a contributing columnist for The Washington Post, soon after he entered the consulate in Istanbul three weeks ago.
The Trump administration has intensified its contacts with the Saudi leadership in recent days, as the president and his allies have scrambled to preserve their relationship with the kingdom, a close regional ally and major purchaser of U.S. weapons. President Donald Trump has swung between publicly accepting the Saudi account of Khashoggi’s death and complaining of “deception” and “lies” from the kingdom.
Speaking to reporters Monday, Trump said that he was “not satisfied” with what he has heard about who is responsible for Khashoggi’s killing but that he did not want to “lose all of that investment” by punishing the Saudi leadership. Later, in an interview with USA Today, Trump said he believed that the death resulted from a “plot gone awry,” seemingly echoing the official Saudi explanation.
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin met Monday in Riyadh with Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, illustrating how the White House is retaining close ties with the embattled leader despite the growing international outcry.
Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Ministry posted a photo of the meeting on Twitter, saying in a caption that Mohammed stressed “the importance of the Saudi-US strategic partnership” in the encounter.
Tony Sayegh, Mnuchin’s top spokesman, said the two men discussed the Khashoggi investigation, the implementation of sanctions against Iran, the Saudi economy and ways to combat the financing of terrorism.
Still, the Treasury Department was reluctant to comment on the meeting, which was not announced in advance.
Bruce Riedel, a former senior Central Intelligence Agency official who is now head of the Intelligence Project at the Brookings Institution, said the session was a way for Saudi officials to signal that the crown prince won’t be cowed by any investigation into Khashoggi’s death.
“He’s just trying to tough it out and say, ‘You have to deal with me,’ ” Riedel said. “‘I’m in charge here. I’m not going anywhere. You can’t avoid having your picture taken with me when you come here.’ ”
There have been growing questions in recent days about what role, if any, Mohammed played in the murder plot. Twelve of the 15 members of what Turkish officials call a hit squad dis- patched to kill Khashoggi have ties to the Saudi security services, and several have connections to the crown prince, according to their posts on social media, emails and local media reports. Saudi authorities deny that Mohammed was aware of the operation.
Like many other foreign officials, Mnuchin announced last week that he was withdrawing from a high-profile investment conference in Saudi Arabia this week. But he traveled to the kingdom for other meetings, officials said.
In New York, Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law and a White House adviser, said in an interview at a CNNconference Monday that he has advised Mohammed to be fully “transparent” about the Khashoggi case. Kushner has cultivated a close partnership with the heir to the Saudi throne.
Kushner declined to say whether he believes the Saudi account of Khashoggi’s death, saying the administration was still “in the fact-finding phase.”
Trump said that top U.S. intelligence officials were in Turkey, suggesting they were trying to assess the information the Turks have gathered. CIA Director Gina Haspel departed for Turkey on Monday, according to people familiar with the matter.
Saudi officials have so far refused to say what happened to Khashoggi’s remains, one of many questions raised about their explanation for the killing.
For weeks, the Saudi government had said Khashoggi walked out of the consulate after his Oct. 2 visit. The body double shown in the newly released video appeared to be an attempt to substantiate that claim, but the cover story fell apart, according to a diplomat familiar with the case. The video footage clearly reveals the man is wearing different shoes than Khashoggi wore when he entered the consulate.
“It was a flawed body double, so it never became an official part of the Saudi government’s narrative,” said the diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive matter.
“It was a flawed body double, so it never became an official part of the Saudi government’s
narrative.” A diplomat familiar
with the case, on condition of anonymity