Khashoggi case – a horrible murder and a disaster for Saudi Arabia
U.S. President Donald Trump said on Monday that he was still not satisfied with what he has heard from Saudi Arabia about the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in Turkey, but did not want to lose investment from Riyadh.
Trump said on Oct. 22: “I spoke to the crown prince. We have people over in Saudi Arabia now. We have top intelligence people in Turkey. We’re going to see what we have. I’ll know a lot tomorrow.”
Turkish officials provided U.S. and Western officials with verbal accounts of evidence they say they collected documenting Khashoggi’s fate.
CIA Director Gina Haspel was in Turkey on Oct. 23 to help investigate the death of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, as security agencies examined what role Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman may have played in the case.
Gina Haspel’s visit comes before announcement by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on initial findings in Ankara's probe.
Her visit comes as Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan prepares to announce the initial findings of Ankara's investigation Tuesday and mounting skepticism over the Saudi explanation of what happened to the U.S. resident and Saudi Arabian national. Turkish president says he will make statement on killing of Saudi journalist during his party's group meeting at parliament.
The killing of Khashoggi is a complicated murder that has been “monstrously planned,” the spokesman for Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) said on Oct. 22.
The Western government experts’ confidence that Prince Mohammed had some responsibility for the operation relies heavily on their assessment of the dominant role he plays in running the Saudi government.
Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi's body was given to a "local cooperator" after he was killed in his country's consulate in Istanbul, a report said. According to a senior Saudi official who spoke to Reuters on Oct. 21, the Saudi team rolled up Khashoggi’s body in a rug, took it out in a consular vehicle and handed it to a “local cooperator” for disposal.
Turkish police find Saudi consulate car abandoned in Istanbul parking lot. The Mercedes in Istanbul’s Sultangazi district was discovered after a tip-off from a reader who called the Hürriyet reporters. Meanwhile, another vehicle, carrying no license plate, was removed from the consulate on Oct. 22 with a tow truck. The discovery of the Mercedes came as five more Turkish employees of the Saudi mission testified on Oct. 22.
