Saudi Dissident Disappears in Saudi Consulate Istanbul

Top Saudi leaders deployed a 15-man hit squad to lie in wait for dissident writer Jamal Khashoggi inside Riyadh's consulate in Istanbul, The New York Times said in an explosive story.

Among the assassination team was a forensic expert who brought a bone saw to dismember Khashoggi's body after killing him, the Times reported on Tuesday, citing an unidentified "senior official" as saying.

Al Jazeera could not immediately verify the news report.

The hit squad finished the murder operation within two hours and departed Turkey for various countries, said the Times' source, citing information from "top Turkish officials".

"It is like Pulp Fiction," the senior Turkish official was quoted as saying, referring to the graphically violent 1994 Hollywood movie by director Quentin Tarantino.

Accusations the Saudi leadership directly ordered the alleged assassination of Khashoggi will put further pressure on the United States and other allies to demand a transparent investigation, with possible serious repercussions to bilateral relations if it does not come to fruition.

Saudi officials have denied any involvement in Khashoggi's disappearance and alleged murder, saying he left the consulate on October 2. Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has demanded that Riyadh prove his departure from the building.

The Turkish government hasn't provided formal evidence that could back up the spate of anonymous allegations that the Saudi writer was killed inside the Istanbul consulate.

Daily Sabah, a Turkish newspaper with close ties to the government, named and published photos on Tuesday of the alleged 15-member Saudi assassination team accused of travelling to Istanbul on the day Khashoggi disappeared. The suspects are wanted by Turkish authorities for questioning.

'Explaining to do'

American Senator Bob Corker, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said on Tuesday that "everything today points to" Khashoggi's murder last week inside the Saudi consulate.

Corker told The Daily Beast his view was reaffirmed after viewing classified intelligence about the disappearance.

"It points to the idea that whatever has happened to him, the Saudis - I mean, they've got some explaining to do," Corker was quoted as saying.

Al Jazeera's Patty Culhane, reporting from Washington, DC, said the deluge of news reports will increase pressure on the US government to act.

"This was a prominent American columnist who is beloved among a small group of the intelligence elite in Washington, DC, and they are speaking out. This story is making front-page news. It is being greeted by a sense of outrage, and that is only growing as each story reveals new information," she said.

'Lay hands on him'

Meanwhile on Tuesday, the Washington Post - for whom Khashoggi wrote columns after fleeing Saudi Arabia over fears of retribution for his critical commentary - reported that US intelligence had intercepted communications of Saudi officials planning to abduct the prominent journalist.

"Saudis wanted to lure Khashoggi back to Saudi Arabia and lay hands on him there," the Post quoted a person familiar with the information as saying.

It was not clear whether the Saudis intended to arrest and interrogate Khashoggi or to kill him - or if the US warned Khashoggi he was a target, the source told the newspaper.

Khashoggi entered the consulate on October 2 to handle a routine paperwork issue but he never came out, according to family and friends, as well as Turkish authorities.

The US resident has written articles over the past year during his self-imposed exile that were critical of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

Khashoggi, 59, has had a long career as a senior journalist in Saudi Arabia and also as an adviser to top officials.

Powerful crown prince

But since the emergence of bin Salman, 33, as the centre of power in the kingdom last year, Khashoggi has been openly critical of the monarchy.

He assailed the prince's reforms as hollow, accusing him of introducing a new Saudi era of "fear, intimidation, arrests and public shaming".

Robert Pearson, a former US ambassador to Turkey, said the case could change the relationship between the US and Saudi Arabia.

"They must give a transparent explanation very quickly, otherwise the tide will quickly turn against them. It's now been a week and nothing has been shown to prove about his (Khashoggi's) safety," he told Al Jazeera.

He noted 47 US senators recently voted to ban US arms sales to Saudi Arabia - four short of a majority.

"It is beginning to reach a genuine crisis point now, which can be solved very quickly if the Saudis are really on the spot," said Pearson.

"The arms sales bill, the war in Yemen - those are the kinds of things that can turn very quickly into a political statement that will damage Saudi's relationship with the United States, and damage Saudi's reputation worldwide."

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The fiancee of missing Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi has implored US President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump to "help shed light" on his disappearance.

Hatice Cengiz made the appeal in an essay for The Washington Post newspaper on Tuesday.

A prominent critic of Riyadh, Khashoggi was last seen a week ago entering Saudi Arabia's consulate in Istanbul to get documents for his forthcoming marriage.

Turkish sources said they believed Khashoggi was killed inside the diplomatic post, a claim Saudi Arabia has dismissed as "baseless".

In her essay, Cengiz said Khashoggi first visited the consulate on September 28 "despite being somewhat concerned that he could be in danger".

But he walked in "because he did not believe that something bad could happen on Turkish soil".

"It would be a violation of international law to harm, arrest or detain people at a diplomatic mission, he said, and noted that no such thing had ever happened in Turkey's history," Cengiz wrote.

After a positive meeting with consular staff who "welcomed him warmly", Khashoggi "was relaxed" before his second visit on October 2, she said.

Cengiz, who waited for him outside, said he never emerged.

"At this time, I implore President Trump and first lady Melania Trump to help shed light on Jamal's disappearance," Cengiz wrote.

"I also urge Saudi Arabia, especially King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, to show the same level of sensitivity and release CCTV footage from the consulate."

She added: "Although this incident could potentially fuel a political crisis between the two nations, let us not lose sight of the human aspect of what happened."

Consulate search

Cengiz's request came as Turkey said it was preparing to search the consulate as part of an investigation to Khashoggi's disappearance.

A surveillance video image obtained by Turkish newspaper Hurriyet also surfaced on Tuesday showing Khashoggi walking into the consulate in Istanbul's upscale 4th Levent neighbourhood.

Meanwhile, The New York Times reported top Saudi leaders deployed a 15-man hit squad to lay in wait for the dissident writer. Citing anonymous Turkish officials, the newspaper said the assassination team included a forensic expert who brought a bone saw to dismember Khashoggi's body.

Turkish police have previously said a team of 15 Saudis were sent to Istanbul and were in the building at the same time as Khashoggi.

Turkish security officials were working to identify the 15 individuals, English-language state broadcaster TRT World reported, adding that Turkish officials believe the Saudis may have taken the consulate's CCTV footage with them when they returned to Riyadh.

According to pro-government daily Sabah, the team arrived in Istanbul on two private planes, one which landed after 03:00 am (00:00 GMT) on Tuesday while the second plane landed around 05:00 pm (14:00 GMT) after Khashoggi entered the consulate.

The individuals checked into two hotels close to the consulate, the daily said.

Both planes later returned to Riyadh with one stopping in Dubai and the other in Egypt, Sabah reported, adding the police were looking into the possibility that Khashoggi was kidnapped.

Separately, The Washington Post - for whom Khashoggi wrote columns - reported US intelligence intercepted communications of Saudi officials planning to abduct the writer.

"Saudis wanted to lure Khashoggi back to Saudi Arabia and lay hands on him there," the Post quoted a person familiar with the information as saying.

It was not clear whether the Saudis intended to arrest and interrogate Khashoggi or to kill him - or if the US warned Khashoggi he was a target, the source told the newspaper.

Khashoggi, who wrote critically for the Post about Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's rise to power, had been in a self-imposed exile in the US since last year, fearful of the prince's low tolerance for criticism.

Cengiz wrote that he also sought to become a US citizen.

"Although my hope slowly fades away each passing day, I remain confident that Jamal is still alive," she wrote.

"Perhaps I'm simply trying to hide from the thought that I have lost a great man whose love I had earned."

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Khashoggi's Apple watch
A Turkish security official told Reuters news agency the Apple watch Khashoggi was wearing at the time of his disappearance was being looked into by Turkish investigators.

Security and intelligence agents in Turkey are now analyzing the watch, believing it may provide important clues as to Khashoggi’s whereabouts or what happened to him.

The device would potentially be able to provide investigators with data such as the journalist's heart rate and location.

"We have determined that it was on him when he walked into the consulate," a security official said. "Intelligence services, the prosecutor’s office, and a technology team are working on this."

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gaiusmarius said:

something isn't right here, why would Saudis kill someone in their consulate? thats kinda dumb. they must know about the cctv system around the building, this seems totally unprofessional. there must be a hundred ways to kidnap or kill some one without pointing a finger directly at yourself. i wouldn't put the killing past them, but not like this, and why is the US and the msm talking about this? normally they shove any misdeeds of Saudi's under the carpet. this is very unusual imo, all around.

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gaiusmarius said:

AJ live just claimed the Turkey is said to have a video of the murder.

now a dual Turkish, Saudi investigation is to take place.

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The Washington Post reported Thursday night that recordings of Saudi consulate officials in Turkey obtained by Turkish investigators and shared with their US counterparts detail how Jamal Khashoggi was tortured, killed, and dismembered by a Saudi Arabian security team at the country's consulate in Istanbul.

It is unclear whether the US has been given direct access to the recordings, the Post reported, but US officials confirmed that the Trump administration was made aware of their contents.

“You can hear his voice and the voices of men speaking Arabic,” one person with knowledge of the recordings told the Post. “You can hear how he was interrogated, tortured and then murdered.”

“The voice recording from inside the embassy lays out what happened to Jamal after he entered,” the Post's source added, while a second official told the newspaper that Khashoggi could be heard on the recording undergoing beatings from his captors.

Khashoggi's disappearance has evolved into a full-fledged international diplomatic crisis for the Saudi government, led by Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman. Salman cast himself as a progressive reformer, but the disappearance and possible murder of a critical voice against his government has thrown Salman's relationship with foreign leaders and organizations into question.

The New York Times, The Economist and a number of notable journalists announced Thursday that they would withdraw from an international media event in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, later this month as a result of the Khashoggi's disappearance.

President Trump indicated Thursday that his administration was investigating Khashoggi's disappearance. "I have to find out what happened. I mean, I do have to find out. And we're probably getting closer than you might think. But I have to find out what happened," the president said in an interview on Fox News.

Earlier news noted that Trump was not willing to sour relations with the Saudis over the incident.

It is widely believed that Khashoggi was assassinated by Saudi operatives and his dismembered body was flown from Turkey to Saudi Arabia in two jets.

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