Saudis: Journalist was killed
Government admits Khashoggi died inside consulate in Turkey
RIYADH» The Saudi government acknowledged early Saturday that journalist Jamal Khashoggi was killed inside the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul, saying he died during a fistfight, but the new account may do little to ease international demands for the kingdom to be held accountable.
The announcement, which came in a tweet from the Saudi Foreign Ministry, said an initial investigation by the government’s general prosecutor found that the Saudi journalist had been in discussions with people inside the consulate when a quarrel broke out and escalated to a fatal fistfight.
The Saudi government said it fired five top officials and arrested 18 other Saudis as a result of the initial investigation. Those fired included Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s adviser, Saud alQahtani, and deputy intelligence chief Maj. Gen. Ahmed alAssiri.
The announcement marked the first time Saudi officials acknowledged that Khashoggi was killed inside the consulate. Since he disappeared Oct. 2 while visiting the mission, Saudi officials repeatedly said he left the consulate alive and that they had no information on his whereabouts or fate. He had
gone to the consulate to obtain a document he needed for his upcoming marriage.
The Saudi statement comes as the kingdom is facing unprecedented political and economic pressure to disclose what happened to Khashoggi, a critic of the government and a contributing columnist to The Washington Post. But it’s unclear whether the Saudi explanation — which clashes with details provided by Turkish investigators and makes no mention of the crown prince — will be enough to satisfy foreign leaders, global business executives and U.S. lawmakers pressing for the perpetrators to be brought to justice.
Turkish investigators had concluded days ago that Khashoggi was killed and dismembered by a Saudi team dispatched to Istanbul. U.S. officials have said that Turkey has audio and video recordings providing evidence that the journalist was interrogated and killed and his body cut into several pieces.
Khashoggi’s body has not been recovered, and the Saudi statement did not address what happened to it.
President Donald Trump said Friday night that the arrests were a “great first step” but that he wanted to talk further to the Saudis about the investigation. He added that if sanctions were imposed on the Saudis over the killing, he would prefer they didn’t include arms sales.
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 left 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 media 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” traveled to Istanbul to meet with Khashoggi as he had expressed an 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.
“The Kingdom expresses its deep regret at the painful developments that have taken place and stresses the commitment of the authorities in the Kingdom to bring the facts to the public,” the statement said.
The official Saudi statement said King Salman also ordered the creation of a commission to review and “modernize” the kingdom’s intelligence operations and report back within a month.
In addition to Qahtani and Assiri, the Saudi news agency named several other military officers who had been fired. They included Maj. Gen. Mohammed bin Saleh alRumaih, assistant head of the General Intelligence Directorate; Maj. Gen. Abdullah bin Khalifa alShaya, head of General Intelligence for Human Resources; and Gen. Rashad bin Hamed alMohammad, director of the General Directorate of Security and Protection.
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 Stephen Bannon and had created a “blacklist” of online critics of Saudi Arabia. Qahtani had made overtures to Khashoggi and tried to persuade him to return to Saudi Arabia this past summer, when U.S. intelligence officials said there was an attempt to lure him back to the kingdom to detain him.
“Do you think I can act by myself without taking orders/guidance?” Qahtani said last year in a tweet that is being widely shared now after the announcement of his firing. “I am an employee and a trustworthy executive to the orders of the king and the crown prince.”
Assiri, who has also been close to the crown prince, served for two years as the public face of Saudi Arabia’s military intervention in the war in Yemen before his intelligence posting.
White House press secretary Sarah Sanders issued a statement acknowledging the Saudi announcement that the Khashoggi investigation was progressing and that action had been taken against suspects.
“We will continue to closely follow the international investigations into this tragic incident and advocate for justice that is timely, transparent and in accordance with all due process. We are saddened to hear confirmation of Mr. Khashoggi’s death, and we offer our deepest condolences to his family, fiancée, and friends,” Sanders said.