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Bizarre Saudi trick exposed

THE Saudis undertook an extraordinary ploy to fool authorities after the “murder” of a journalist, but a photo revealed the truth.

A MAN appearing to wear Jamal Khashoggi’s clothes left the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul following his killing there, according to a surveillance video, while a member of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s entourage made four calls to the royal’s office around the same time, reports said Monday. 

The reports by CNN and a pro-government Turkish newspaper came just a day before Prince Mohammed’s high-profile investment summit is to begin in Riyadh and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has promised that details of Khashoggi’s killing “will be revealed in all its nakedness.”

Meanwhile, Turkish crime-scene investigators swarmed a garage on Monday night in Istanbul where a Saudi consular vehicle had been parked.

Jamal Khashoggi and his fiancee, Hatice Cengiz, at an apartment building in Istanbul just hours before his death. Picture: AP
Jamal Khashoggi and his fiancee, Hatice Cengiz, at an apartment building in Istanbul just hours before his death. Picture: APSource:AP

All this yet again adds to the pressure Saudi Arabia faces over the slaying of the Washington Post columnist.

The kingdom’s claim on Saturday that Khashoggi died in a “fistfight” met international scepticism and allegations of a cover-up to absolve the 33-year-old crown prince of direct responsibility.

Turkish media reports and officials maintain that a 15-member Saudi team flew to Istanbul on October 2, knowing Khashoggi would arrive for a document he needed to get married. Once he was inside the diplomatic mission, the Saudis accosted Khashoggi, cut off his fingers, killed and dismembered the 59-year-old writer.

CNN aired surveillance video on Monday showing the man in Khashoggi’s dress shirt, suit jacket and pants.

RELATED: Crown Prince phoned journalist moments before he was murdered

RELATED: Erdogan’s threat over Khashoggi killing

The man, suspected of being a Saudi agent, is seen dressed in Jamal Khashoggi's clothes. Picture: CNN
The man, suspected of being a Saudi agent, is seen dressed in Jamal Khashoggi's clothes. Picture: CNNSource:Supplied

It cited a Turkish official as describing the man as a “body double” and a member of the Saudi team sent to Istanbul to target the writer. The man is seen in the footage walking out of the consulate via its back exit with an accomplice, then taking a taxi to Istanbul’s famed Sultan Ahmed Mosque, where he went into a public bathroom, changed back out of the clothes and left.

The state-run broadcaster TRT later also reported that a man who entered the consulate building was seen leaving the building in Khashoggi’s clothes. In the days after Khashoggi vanished, Saudi officials initially said that he had left the consulate, implying premeditation on the part of the Saudi team.

This image purportedly shows Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi talking to his fiancee Hatice Cengiz, seen in expanded view, before entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. Picture: AP
This image purportedly shows Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi talking to his fiancee Hatice Cengiz, seen in expanded view, before entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. Picture: APSource:AP
 
Jamal Khashoggi is checked by security. Picture: AP
Jamal Khashoggi is checked by security. Picture: APSource:AP

 

Jamal Khashoggi walks into the consulate. Picture: AP
Jamal Khashoggi walks into the consulate. Picture: APSource:AP
 
The last time the journalist was pictured alive. Picture: AP
The last time the journalist was pictured alive. Picture: APSource:AP

“After Turkish authorities and the media were allowed to inspect the consulate building in its entirety, the accusations changed to the outrageous claim that he was murdered, in the consulate, during business hours, and with dozens of staff and visitors in the building,” Saudi Ambassador to the US Prince Khalid bin Salman, a brother of the crown prince, wrote on October 8. “I don’t know who is behind these claims, or their intentions, nor do I care frankly.”

A separate report by newspaper Yeni Safak said Maher Abdulaziz Mutreb, a member of Prince Mohammed’s entourage on trips to the US, France and Spain this year, made the calls from the consulate. The newspaper said the four calls went to Bader al-Asaker, the head of Prince Mohammed’s office. It said another call went to the United States.

Details about the death of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi are emerging. Picture: AP
Details about the death of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi are emerging. Picture: APSource:AP

Yeni Safak cited no source for the information. However, pro-government newspapers have been leaking information about Khashoggi’s killing, apparently with the help of Turkish security forces.

Yeni Safak reported last week that Saudi officials cut off Khashoggi’s fingers and then decapitated him at the consulate as his fiancee waited outside.

Officials in Saudi Arabia have not answered repeated requests for comment from The Associated Press in recent days, including on Monday.

Saudi Arabia so far has not acknowledged or explained Mr Mutreb’s presence in Istanbul, nor that a forensics and autopsy expert was also on hand for Khashoggi’s arrival at the consulate.

Last week, a leaked photograph apparently taken from surveillance footage showed Mr Mutreb at the consulate, just ahead of Khashoggi’s arrival. Mr Mutreb’s name also matches that of a first secretary who once served as a diplomat at the Saudi Embassy in London, according to a 2007 list compiled by the British Foreign Office.

By nightfall, Turkish police began searching an underground car park in Istanbul’s Sultangazi district. Surveillance video aired by TRT showed what Turkish security officials described as suspicious movement with the vehicles, including an image of a man moving a bag from one vehicle to another.


Meanwhile, Saudi state media reported that both Prince Mohammed and King Salman made calls to Khashoggi’s son, Salah, early on Monday. Statements from the agency said both the king and the crown prince expressed their condolences for Khashoggi’s death.
Jamal Khashoggi with fiancée Hatice Cengiz, who is reportedly under police protection in Turkey. Picture: Facebook
Jamal Khashoggi with fiancée Hatice Cengiz, who is reportedly under police protection in Turkey. Picture: FacebookSource:Supplied

A Saudi friend of Khashoggi who was in frequent touch with him before his death told the AP that Salah Khashoggi had been under a travel ban and barred from leaving the kingdom since last year as a result of his father’s criticism of the government. The friend spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of repercussion. The Saudi statements did not acknowledge the ban.

Turkish forensic police investigate an abandoned car belonging to the Saudi consulate. Picture: AFP
Turkish forensic police investigate an abandoned car belonging to the Saudi consulate. Picture: AFPSource:AFP

Five Turkish employees of the consulate also gave testimony to prosecutors on Monday, Turkish media reported. Istanbul’s chief prosecutor had summoned 28 more staff members of the Saudi Consulate, including Turkish citizens and foreign nationals, to give testimony. Some Turkish employees reportedly said they were instructed not to go to work around the time that Khashoggi disappeared.

Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir on Sunday told Fox News that Khashoggi’s killing was “a rogue operation” and that “we don’t know where the body is.”

Jamal Khashoggi's Turkish fiancee Hatice Cengiz is the last person to have seen the journalist alive. Picture: AFP
Jamal Khashoggi's Turkish fiancee Hatice Cengiz is the last person to have seen the journalist alive. Picture: AFPSource:AFP

“The individuals who did this did this outside the scope of their authority,” he said. “There obviously was a tremendous mistake made and what compounded the mistake was the attempt to try to cover up. That is unacceptable to the government.”

However, leading Republicans and Democrats in Congress are saying Saudi Arabia should face punishment over Khashoggi’s killing.

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has denied any knowledge of jamal Khashoggi’s death. Picture: AP
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has denied any knowledge of jamal Khashoggi’s death. Picture: APSource:AP

US President Donald Trump also had talked about possible punishment but said he didn’t want to halt proposed arms sales to Saudi Arabia because, he maintained, it would harm US manufacturers.

Britain, Germany and France issued a joint statement condemning the killing of Khashoggi, saying there is an “urgent need for clarification of exactly what happened.”

In a statement on Sunday, the governments said attacks on journalists are unacceptable and “of utmost concern to our three nations.”

People gather as Turkish police conduct an investigation into Jamal Khashoggi’s killing. Picture: AFP

People gather as Turkish police conduct an investigation into Jamal Khashoggi’s killing. Picture: AFPSource:AFP








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They said the “hypotheses” proposed so far in the Saudi investigation need to be backed by facts to be considered credible.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Sunday in Berlin that she supports a freeze on arms exports to Saudi Arabia. German Economy Minister Peter Altmaier underlined that point Monday, calling for a joint European position as Germany “won’t at this point approve any further arms exports because we want to know what happened.”

Source: News Corp Australia Network:

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