MARKETWATCH
"Turkish official: Decoy wore Khashoggi’s ‘still warm’ clothes after murder"
By Shawn Langlois
Published: Oct 22, 2018 2:32 p.m. ET
‘Khashoggi’s clothes were probably still warm when Madani put them on.’
Those chilling words come from a senior Turkish official, who told CNN that the man in the video is named Mustafa al-Madani.
Dressed in Jamal Khashoggi’s clothes, Madani wore a fake beard and glasses, as part of the 15-man team responsible for killing the journalist at the Saudi embassy, according to the official.
He was seen in the same outfit hours later at the Blue Mosque.
One explanation that the Saudis floated was that Khashoggi’s death was a matter of an interrogation gone wrong.
But the official isn’t buying it.
“You don’t need a body double for a rendition or an interrogation,” he said.
“Our assessment has not changed since October 6."
"This was a premeditated murder and the body was moved out of the consulate.”
Meanwhile, Saudi King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman reportedly called Khashoggi’s son on Sunday to express their condolences.
The state-run Saudi Press Agency confirmed the telephone exchange.
On the same day, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said he plans to release more information on what happened that day.
“I will make my statements about this issue on Tuesday,” he said.
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/turki ... ewer_click
TURKEY
Re: TURKEY
REUTERS
"CIA director Haspel travels to Turkey for Khashoggi case - source"
22 OCTOBER 2018
CIA Director Gina Haspel is traveling to Turkey on Monday to work on the investigation into the death of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters.
U.S. President Donald Trump said earlier on Monday that he has "top intelligence people in Turkey," but did not provide any details.
(Reporting by Mark Hosenball Editing by Mary Milliken and James Dalgleish)
http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/cia ... id=HPDHP17
"CIA director Haspel travels to Turkey for Khashoggi case - source"
22 OCTOBER 2018
CIA Director Gina Haspel is traveling to Turkey on Monday to work on the investigation into the death of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters.
U.S. President Donald Trump said earlier on Monday that he has "top intelligence people in Turkey," but did not provide any details.
(Reporting by Mark Hosenball Editing by Mary Milliken and James Dalgleish)
http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/cia ... id=HPDHP17
Re: TURKEY
CNN
"Jamal Khashoggi was victim of 'ferocious' pre-planned murder, Erdogan says"
By Gul Tuysuz and Eliza Mackintosh, CNN
23 OCTOBER 2018
Jamal Khashoggi died as a result of a brutal premeditated murder, Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Tuesday, in a highly anticipated speech in which he rejected Saudi Arabia's claim that the journalist was killed accidentally.
Erdogan called on the perpetrators to be brought to justice in Istanbul and questioned whether the Vienna Conventions, which give immunity to diplomatic staff, applied in this case.
It was the first time that any official in Turkey has publicly outlined the Turkish contention that Khashoggi was killed by a hit squad sent from Saudi Arabia.
But while Erdogan had promised the "naked truth," he offered few details beyond those revealed by Turkish officials speaking privately.
The main thrust of his speech amounted to a comprehensive rejection of Saudi Arabia's case that Khashoggi died by accident, as a result of a brawl.
"The information obtained so far and the evidence found shows that Khashoggi was murdered in a ferocious manner," Erdogan told lawmakers in Ankara.
Among the new details revealed by Erdogan was an allegation that, on the day before Khashoggi was killed, a team of consular staff carried out a reconnaissance mission at two separate locations in Belgrad Forest, on the outskirts of Istanbul, and at Yalova, a city about a 55 mile (90 kilometer) drive south of the city.
He put into the public domain allegations that a 15-strong hit squad arrived in Istanbul, saying that a team of three arrived on a private jet the day before Khashoggi died, and that two teams of nine and three -- the larger team including "generals" -- arrived on the day of his appointment at the consulate.
Hours before Khashoggi arrived to obtain paperwork to marry his fiancee, security cameras were disconnected, Erdogan said.
"We stated that we would not remain silent and that we would take every step necessary for justice to be done," Erdogan said to members of his ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP).
But there were some glaring omissions and few new details in the speech.
Much of what Erdogan said in the parliamentary address has already appeared in media reports and he made no reference to a previously reported audio recording from inside the consulate, said to have captured his alleged torture and killing.
Nor did he mention Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the Kingdom's de facto ruler, by name.
Bin Salman, in public comments the day after Khashoggi disappeared, professed to know nothing about any malfeasance, insisting Khashoggi had left the Istanbul consulate alive.
Erdogan called on the King of Saudi Arabia for the 18 Saudi suspects linked to Khashoggi's death be tried in Istanbul.
After weeks of denying any knowledge of Khashoggi's whereabouts, the Saudi government said on Friday that the journalist had indeed died in the kingdom's diplomatic compound in Istanbul.
The Saudi story has shifted drastically since Khashoggi was last seen entering the consulate on October 2; the official line is now that he was accidentally killed when a discussion with officials turned into a brawl.
Erdogan presented a very different version of events on Tuesday, speaking in Ankara as Saudi Arabia's flagship investment conference got underway in Riyadh, the Saudi capital.
Dozens of top business leaders from around the world have pulled out of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's showcase event, known as "Davos in the desert," as questions mount over the Saudi government's role in the death of the Washington Post columnist and US resident.
Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir said on Sunday that Khashoggi's killing was part of a rogue operation and that his government would punish those responsible for his "murder."
But Turkish officials have maintained from the start that Khashoggi's death was "violently planned" ahead of time, carried out by a team of Saudi operatives dispatched to Istanbul, and subsequently covered up.
In the intervening weeks, Turkish officials have released a drip-feed of information related to their investigation into Khashoggi's murder, including surveillance footage shared exclusively with CNN that showed what a Turkish source described as a "body double" leaving the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on the day Khashoggi died.
The Saudi operative, said by the Turkish source to be one of a 15-man team sent from Saudi Arabia to kill Khashoggi, was wearing the journalist's clothes and was picked up on surveillance footage at locations around Istanbul.
Erdogan confirmed the body double in CNN's exclusive.
The Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said Tuesday that evidence uncovered during the investigation has yet to be shared with any country, according to Turkey state-run Anadolu News, but that Turkey was "ready to cooperate in a possible probe into Khashoggi case at UN, international courts."
"Jamal Khashoggi's killing is a violently planned and a very complicated murder, which was being covered up," Omer Celik, AKP spokesman, said at the party's headquarters in Ankara on Monday.
"I hope those responsible for Khashoggi's killing are punished and no one ever thinks of repeating this."
Speaking to reporters on Monday, Erdogan's spokesman Ibrahim Kalin said: "The line our President put since the beginning of this case is very clear."
"The investigation will continue until the end."
http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/jam ... id=HPDHP17
"Jamal Khashoggi was victim of 'ferocious' pre-planned murder, Erdogan says"
By Gul Tuysuz and Eliza Mackintosh, CNN
23 OCTOBER 2018
Jamal Khashoggi died as a result of a brutal premeditated murder, Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Tuesday, in a highly anticipated speech in which he rejected Saudi Arabia's claim that the journalist was killed accidentally.
Erdogan called on the perpetrators to be brought to justice in Istanbul and questioned whether the Vienna Conventions, which give immunity to diplomatic staff, applied in this case.
It was the first time that any official in Turkey has publicly outlined the Turkish contention that Khashoggi was killed by a hit squad sent from Saudi Arabia.
But while Erdogan had promised the "naked truth," he offered few details beyond those revealed by Turkish officials speaking privately.
The main thrust of his speech amounted to a comprehensive rejection of Saudi Arabia's case that Khashoggi died by accident, as a result of a brawl.
"The information obtained so far and the evidence found shows that Khashoggi was murdered in a ferocious manner," Erdogan told lawmakers in Ankara.
Among the new details revealed by Erdogan was an allegation that, on the day before Khashoggi was killed, a team of consular staff carried out a reconnaissance mission at two separate locations in Belgrad Forest, on the outskirts of Istanbul, and at Yalova, a city about a 55 mile (90 kilometer) drive south of the city.
He put into the public domain allegations that a 15-strong hit squad arrived in Istanbul, saying that a team of three arrived on a private jet the day before Khashoggi died, and that two teams of nine and three -- the larger team including "generals" -- arrived on the day of his appointment at the consulate.
Hours before Khashoggi arrived to obtain paperwork to marry his fiancee, security cameras were disconnected, Erdogan said.
"We stated that we would not remain silent and that we would take every step necessary for justice to be done," Erdogan said to members of his ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP).
But there were some glaring omissions and few new details in the speech.
Much of what Erdogan said in the parliamentary address has already appeared in media reports and he made no reference to a previously reported audio recording from inside the consulate, said to have captured his alleged torture and killing.
Nor did he mention Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the Kingdom's de facto ruler, by name.
Bin Salman, in public comments the day after Khashoggi disappeared, professed to know nothing about any malfeasance, insisting Khashoggi had left the Istanbul consulate alive.
Erdogan called on the King of Saudi Arabia for the 18 Saudi suspects linked to Khashoggi's death be tried in Istanbul.
After weeks of denying any knowledge of Khashoggi's whereabouts, the Saudi government said on Friday that the journalist had indeed died in the kingdom's diplomatic compound in Istanbul.
The Saudi story has shifted drastically since Khashoggi was last seen entering the consulate on October 2; the official line is now that he was accidentally killed when a discussion with officials turned into a brawl.
Erdogan presented a very different version of events on Tuesday, speaking in Ankara as Saudi Arabia's flagship investment conference got underway in Riyadh, the Saudi capital.
Dozens of top business leaders from around the world have pulled out of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's showcase event, known as "Davos in the desert," as questions mount over the Saudi government's role in the death of the Washington Post columnist and US resident.
Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir said on Sunday that Khashoggi's killing was part of a rogue operation and that his government would punish those responsible for his "murder."
But Turkish officials have maintained from the start that Khashoggi's death was "violently planned" ahead of time, carried out by a team of Saudi operatives dispatched to Istanbul, and subsequently covered up.
In the intervening weeks, Turkish officials have released a drip-feed of information related to their investigation into Khashoggi's murder, including surveillance footage shared exclusively with CNN that showed what a Turkish source described as a "body double" leaving the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on the day Khashoggi died.
The Saudi operative, said by the Turkish source to be one of a 15-man team sent from Saudi Arabia to kill Khashoggi, was wearing the journalist's clothes and was picked up on surveillance footage at locations around Istanbul.
Erdogan confirmed the body double in CNN's exclusive.
The Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said Tuesday that evidence uncovered during the investigation has yet to be shared with any country, according to Turkey state-run Anadolu News, but that Turkey was "ready to cooperate in a possible probe into Khashoggi case at UN, international courts."
"Jamal Khashoggi's killing is a violently planned and a very complicated murder, which was being covered up," Omer Celik, AKP spokesman, said at the party's headquarters in Ankara on Monday.
"I hope those responsible for Khashoggi's killing are punished and no one ever thinks of repeating this."
Speaking to reporters on Monday, Erdogan's spokesman Ibrahim Kalin said: "The line our President put since the beginning of this case is very clear."
"The investigation will continue until the end."
http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/jam ... id=HPDHP17
Re: TURKEY
THE GUARDIAN
"Khashoggi killing: Donald Trump says Saudi crown prince could have been involved"
Julian Borger in Washington and Bethan McKernan in Istanbul
24 OCTOBER 2018
Donald Trump has said for the first time that Saudi crown prince Mohammed bin Salman could have been involved in the operation to kill dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi, noting that “the prince is running things over there” in Riyadh.
The comments, in an interview with the Wall Street Journal, appeared to mark a shift in the president’s view of Khashoggi’s murder on 2 October in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.
He has hitherto appeared to take Saudi royal denials of involvement at face value.
But on a day the state department announced it would sanction Saudi officials implicated in the writer’s death, the president appeared to give the benefit of the doubt to King Salman but not necessarily to his powerful son.
Asked about the crown prince’s possible involvement, Trump said: “Well, the prince is running things over there more so at this stage."
"He’s running things and so if anybody were going to be, it would be him.”
Trump told the Wall Street Journal he had closely questioned Prince Mohammed about Khashoggi’s murder, posing questions repeatedly and “in a couple of different ways”.
“My first question to him was, ‘Did you know anything about it in terms of the initial planning’,” Trump said.
Prince Mohammed replied that he didn’t, Trump said.
“I said, ‘Where did it start?’"
"And he said it started at lower levels.”
Asked if he believed the denials, the president paused for several seconds.
“I want to believe them."
"I really want to believe them,” he said.
Twenty-one Saudis will have their US visas revoked or be made ineligible for US visas over the journalist’s killing, the state department announced, as the Trump administration struggled to regain the initiative amid the uproar over a murder that has thrown the US-Saudi alliance into question.
Mike Pompeo, the US secretary of state, said other measures were being considered, including sanctions: “These penalties will not be the last word on the matter from the United States.
“We’re making very clear that the United States does not tolerate this kind of ruthless action to silence Mr Khashoggi, a journalist, through violence,” Pompeo said.
“Neither the President nor I am happy with this situation.”
The secretary of state said the US would “continue to develop our understanding of the individuals that were responsible for this, who not only executed it but led and were involved and were connected to it”.
The visa revocations would be the first punitive measures taken by the administration against the Saudis since Khashoggi disappeared after entering the consulate on 2 October.
However, under pressure from Congress, it is likely to extract a higher price from Riyadh for the brutal killing of Khashoggi, a US resident and columnist for the Washington Post who was a critic of the crown prince.
Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office, Trump spoke contemptuously about the murder plot: “They had a very bad original concept."
"It was carried out poorly and the cover-up was one of the worst in the history of cover-ups.”
Later at a dinner with military leaders, he returned to theme of how the crime was performed: “They did a bad job of execution and they did a bad job of talking about it or covering it up.”
“I’m saying they should have never thought about it,” Trump added.
“Once they thought about it, everything else they did was bad too …"
"It should have never happened.”
Trump has put out mixed messages over recent days, vowing “very severe” consequences and mentioning possible economic sanctions, but also ruling out a block on arms sales to Saudi Arabia and highlighting the country’s role as a US ally against Iran and Islamist militants.
At the weekend, the US president said he thought that Saudi claims that Khashoggi had died in a “fistfight” were credible, and termed the announcement an “important first step”.
His comments on Tuesday came after the Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, publicly tore down the Saudi version, making fresh allegations that Khashoggi’s “savage” murder was premeditated, and calling for an independent investigation.
Erdoğan had billed his keenly awaited address at the Turkish parliament in Ankara as the moment he would reveal the “naked truth” about what happened to Khashoggi.
He said he was not satisfied with Riyadh’s suggestion that the killing was a rogue extradition operation gone wrong, and called for the “highest ranked” of those responsible to be brought to justice.
Contrary to expectations Erdoğan’s first update on the three-week-old case did not officially reveal the existence of audio and video evidence understood to be in Turkey’s possession.
Erdoğan did reveal that on the day before Khashoggi was killed, Saudi agents arrived in Istanbul and began to scout locations, including the Belgrad forest near Istanbul and the city of Yalova to its south.
Police have subsequently searched both areas for Khashoggi’s remains.
The president did not name the powerful crown prince, the kingdom’s de facto ruler who, it is alleged, was probably aware of, and possibly even ordered, the silencing of his prominent critic, but observers were in little doubt as to whom his repeated mentions of “highest ranked” referred.
He otherwise spoke of the “sincerity” of Saudi Arabia’s King Salman in the investigation.
The gaps in the speech suggested Erdoğan had more cards to play in the evolving diplomatic crisis.
Erdoğan’s speech came as the Saudi foreign ministry released extraordinary photos of Khashoggi’s son, Salah bin Jamal Khashoggi, meeting the crown prince and king in Riyadh on Tuesday.
http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/kha ... id=HPDHP17
"Khashoggi killing: Donald Trump says Saudi crown prince could have been involved"
Julian Borger in Washington and Bethan McKernan in Istanbul
24 OCTOBER 2018
Donald Trump has said for the first time that Saudi crown prince Mohammed bin Salman could have been involved in the operation to kill dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi, noting that “the prince is running things over there” in Riyadh.
The comments, in an interview with the Wall Street Journal, appeared to mark a shift in the president’s view of Khashoggi’s murder on 2 October in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.
He has hitherto appeared to take Saudi royal denials of involvement at face value.
But on a day the state department announced it would sanction Saudi officials implicated in the writer’s death, the president appeared to give the benefit of the doubt to King Salman but not necessarily to his powerful son.
Asked about the crown prince’s possible involvement, Trump said: “Well, the prince is running things over there more so at this stage."
"He’s running things and so if anybody were going to be, it would be him.”
Trump told the Wall Street Journal he had closely questioned Prince Mohammed about Khashoggi’s murder, posing questions repeatedly and “in a couple of different ways”.
“My first question to him was, ‘Did you know anything about it in terms of the initial planning’,” Trump said.
Prince Mohammed replied that he didn’t, Trump said.
“I said, ‘Where did it start?’"
"And he said it started at lower levels.”
Asked if he believed the denials, the president paused for several seconds.
“I want to believe them."
"I really want to believe them,” he said.
Twenty-one Saudis will have their US visas revoked or be made ineligible for US visas over the journalist’s killing, the state department announced, as the Trump administration struggled to regain the initiative amid the uproar over a murder that has thrown the US-Saudi alliance into question.
Mike Pompeo, the US secretary of state, said other measures were being considered, including sanctions: “These penalties will not be the last word on the matter from the United States.
“We’re making very clear that the United States does not tolerate this kind of ruthless action to silence Mr Khashoggi, a journalist, through violence,” Pompeo said.
“Neither the President nor I am happy with this situation.”
The secretary of state said the US would “continue to develop our understanding of the individuals that were responsible for this, who not only executed it but led and were involved and were connected to it”.
The visa revocations would be the first punitive measures taken by the administration against the Saudis since Khashoggi disappeared after entering the consulate on 2 October.
However, under pressure from Congress, it is likely to extract a higher price from Riyadh for the brutal killing of Khashoggi, a US resident and columnist for the Washington Post who was a critic of the crown prince.
Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office, Trump spoke contemptuously about the murder plot: “They had a very bad original concept."
"It was carried out poorly and the cover-up was one of the worst in the history of cover-ups.”
Later at a dinner with military leaders, he returned to theme of how the crime was performed: “They did a bad job of execution and they did a bad job of talking about it or covering it up.”
“I’m saying they should have never thought about it,” Trump added.
“Once they thought about it, everything else they did was bad too …"
"It should have never happened.”
Trump has put out mixed messages over recent days, vowing “very severe” consequences and mentioning possible economic sanctions, but also ruling out a block on arms sales to Saudi Arabia and highlighting the country’s role as a US ally against Iran and Islamist militants.
At the weekend, the US president said he thought that Saudi claims that Khashoggi had died in a “fistfight” were credible, and termed the announcement an “important first step”.
His comments on Tuesday came after the Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, publicly tore down the Saudi version, making fresh allegations that Khashoggi’s “savage” murder was premeditated, and calling for an independent investigation.
Erdoğan had billed his keenly awaited address at the Turkish parliament in Ankara as the moment he would reveal the “naked truth” about what happened to Khashoggi.
He said he was not satisfied with Riyadh’s suggestion that the killing was a rogue extradition operation gone wrong, and called for the “highest ranked” of those responsible to be brought to justice.
Contrary to expectations Erdoğan’s first update on the three-week-old case did not officially reveal the existence of audio and video evidence understood to be in Turkey’s possession.
Erdoğan did reveal that on the day before Khashoggi was killed, Saudi agents arrived in Istanbul and began to scout locations, including the Belgrad forest near Istanbul and the city of Yalova to its south.
Police have subsequently searched both areas for Khashoggi’s remains.
The president did not name the powerful crown prince, the kingdom’s de facto ruler who, it is alleged, was probably aware of, and possibly even ordered, the silencing of his prominent critic, but observers were in little doubt as to whom his repeated mentions of “highest ranked” referred.
He otherwise spoke of the “sincerity” of Saudi Arabia’s King Salman in the investigation.
The gaps in the speech suggested Erdoğan had more cards to play in the evolving diplomatic crisis.
Erdoğan’s speech came as the Saudi foreign ministry released extraordinary photos of Khashoggi’s son, Salah bin Jamal Khashoggi, meeting the crown prince and king in Riyadh on Tuesday.
http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/kha ... id=HPDHP17
Re: TURKEY
WITH HER MURKY BACKGROUND, SHE WOULD KNOW IF IT WAS REALLY SOMEONE GETTING TORTURED AND MURDERED …
THE WASHINGTON POST
"CIA director listens to audio of journalist’s alleged murder"
John Hudson, Souad Mekhennet, Shane Harris
25 OCTOBER 2018
CIA Director Gina Haspel listened to audio purportedly capturing the interrogation and killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, giving a key member of President Trump’s Cabinet access to the evidence used by Turkey to accuse Saudi Arabia of premeditated murder.
Haspel, who departed for a secret trip to Turkey on Monday, heard the audio during her visit, according to people familiar with her meetings.
President Trump, who has made Saudi Arabia a central pillar of his Middle East strategy, has grown increasingly skeptical of the kingdom’s claim that Khashoggi’s death was a “rogue operation” that occurred after a fistfight broke out in the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul on Oct. 2.
On Tuesday, Trump said Saudi officials had engaged in the “worst coverup ever” and that those behind the killing “should be in big trouble.”
A person familiar with the audio said it was “compelling” and could put more pressure on the United States to hold Saudi Arabia accountable for the death of Khashoggi, a contributing columnist for The Washington Post.
“This puts the ball firmly in Washington’s court,” said Bruce Riedel, a former CIA official and scholar at the Brookings Institution.
“Not only will there be more pressure now from the media but Congress will say, ‘Gina, we would love to have you come visit and you can tell us exactly what you heard.’ ”
The Trump administration took its first concrete steps to penalize Saudi Arabia on Tuesday by revoking visas for agents implicated in the killing, a modest move considering 18 of the 21 Saudi suspects were already under arrest.
In announcing the measures, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said he is working with the Treasury Department on whether to impose sanctions on those responsible for the journalist’s death.
“These penalties will not be the last word on this matter from the United States,” Pompeo said.
“We will continue to explore additional measures to hold those responsible accountable.”
Trump has reiterated that he views Saudi Arabia as a great ally and an important purchaser of U.S. tanks, bombs and planes.
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the country’s de facto leader, has denied having knowledge of the mission and on Wednesday promised to bring those responsible to justice.
He called the killing of Khashoggi a “heinous crime.”
Turkish officials have voiced their doubts about his intention to support a full investigation.
“How should a real investigation in Saudi Arabia work when one of the main suspects is the crown prince MBS?” said a Turkish senior official, referring to the crown prince by his initials.
“He is one of the suspects."
"Members of his royal guard were part of the killing squad."
"The U.S. nor the rest of the world should really accept this,” said the official, who like others spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive topic.
Riedel said it will be difficult for Haspel to resist requests by Congress for a briefing.
“It will be pretty hard for her to say no because at a minimum the intelligence committees can ask her to come in secret, but even if it’s a secret session, it will leak fast,” he said.
U.S. lawmakers have increased their pressure on the Trump administration, accusing the crown prince of ordering the killing.
“Do I think he did it?"
"Yes, I think he did it,” Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.), chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said in an interview with CNN.
Sen. Thom Tillis, another Republican, told NBC that “in Saudi Arabia, you do not do something of this magnitude without having clearance from the top.”
john.hudson@washpost.com
souad.mekhennet@washpost.com
shane.harris@washpost.com
http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/cia ... id=HPDHP17
THE WASHINGTON POST
"CIA director listens to audio of journalist’s alleged murder"
John Hudson, Souad Mekhennet, Shane Harris
25 OCTOBER 2018
CIA Director Gina Haspel listened to audio purportedly capturing the interrogation and killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, giving a key member of President Trump’s Cabinet access to the evidence used by Turkey to accuse Saudi Arabia of premeditated murder.
Haspel, who departed for a secret trip to Turkey on Monday, heard the audio during her visit, according to people familiar with her meetings.
President Trump, who has made Saudi Arabia a central pillar of his Middle East strategy, has grown increasingly skeptical of the kingdom’s claim that Khashoggi’s death was a “rogue operation” that occurred after a fistfight broke out in the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul on Oct. 2.
On Tuesday, Trump said Saudi officials had engaged in the “worst coverup ever” and that those behind the killing “should be in big trouble.”
A person familiar with the audio said it was “compelling” and could put more pressure on the United States to hold Saudi Arabia accountable for the death of Khashoggi, a contributing columnist for The Washington Post.
“This puts the ball firmly in Washington’s court,” said Bruce Riedel, a former CIA official and scholar at the Brookings Institution.
“Not only will there be more pressure now from the media but Congress will say, ‘Gina, we would love to have you come visit and you can tell us exactly what you heard.’ ”
The Trump administration took its first concrete steps to penalize Saudi Arabia on Tuesday by revoking visas for agents implicated in the killing, a modest move considering 18 of the 21 Saudi suspects were already under arrest.
In announcing the measures, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said he is working with the Treasury Department on whether to impose sanctions on those responsible for the journalist’s death.
“These penalties will not be the last word on this matter from the United States,” Pompeo said.
“We will continue to explore additional measures to hold those responsible accountable.”
Trump has reiterated that he views Saudi Arabia as a great ally and an important purchaser of U.S. tanks, bombs and planes.
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the country’s de facto leader, has denied having knowledge of the mission and on Wednesday promised to bring those responsible to justice.
He called the killing of Khashoggi a “heinous crime.”
Turkish officials have voiced their doubts about his intention to support a full investigation.
“How should a real investigation in Saudi Arabia work when one of the main suspects is the crown prince MBS?” said a Turkish senior official, referring to the crown prince by his initials.
“He is one of the suspects."
"Members of his royal guard were part of the killing squad."
"The U.S. nor the rest of the world should really accept this,” said the official, who like others spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive topic.
Riedel said it will be difficult for Haspel to resist requests by Congress for a briefing.
“It will be pretty hard for her to say no because at a minimum the intelligence committees can ask her to come in secret, but even if it’s a secret session, it will leak fast,” he said.
U.S. lawmakers have increased their pressure on the Trump administration, accusing the crown prince of ordering the killing.
“Do I think he did it?"
"Yes, I think he did it,” Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.), chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said in an interview with CNN.
Sen. Thom Tillis, another Republican, told NBC that “in Saudi Arabia, you do not do something of this magnitude without having clearance from the top.”
john.hudson@washpost.com
souad.mekhennet@washpost.com
shane.harris@washpost.com
http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/cia ... id=HPDHP17
Re: TURKEY
THE WASHINGTON POST
"CIA director briefs president on audio purportedly capturing the killing of Jamal Khashoggi"
Karen DeYoung, Tamer El-Ghobashy, Kareem Fahim
26 OCTOBER 2018
CIA Director Gina Haspel briefed President Trump on Thursday about her trip this week to Turkey, where she listened to audio purportedly capturing the killing of Jamal Khashoggi, as Saudi Arabia appeared to acknowledge that its agents had murdered the dissident Saudi journalist in a “premeditated” operation.
A statement issued by the public prosecutor in Riyadh, citing shared Turkish evidence of premeditation, marked the latest reversal in the Saudi version of events and put the focus directly on the question of who ordered Khashoggi’s death.
U.S. intelligence officials and lawmakers have said that the killing, in a foreign country, of a critic of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman was unlikely to have taken place without the knowledge of the kingdom’s most senior leaders.
Khashoggi was last seen entering the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul on Oct. 2.
Saudi authorities, who insisted for weeks that he had left the building after a meeting and that they had no information on his whereabouts, said Saturday that their investigators had determined he was accidentally killed there during a brawl with Saudi agents.
The authorities said the agents were there to discuss his desire to return to the kingdom, but offered no indication of who had sent them.
The Saturday statement said that 18 unnamed Saudis had been arrested and that five senior officials had been fired.
It also said that a high-level committee to restructure Saudi intelligence agencies — headed by Mohammed — had been formed and that a joint Turkish-Saudi investigation into Khashoggi’s death was underway.
Mohammed and his father, King Salman, have both repeatedly assured Trump and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who traveled to Saudi Arabia last week, that they had no knowledge of a plot to kill Khashoggi.
Trump initially described the Saudi explanation Saturday as credible.
But in recent days he has expressed doubt, calling it “the worst coverup ever,” although he has not directly pointed the finger at the Saudi leadership.
Instead, Pompeo announced that visas held by the arrested Saudis were being revoked, and the White House on Monday dispatched Haspel to Turkey.
On Tuesday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said publicly for the first time that there was evidence the killing had been “planned” — presumably including the audio reportedly recorded inside the consulate by Turkish intelligence.
The recording is the central piece of evidence Turkey has used to assert that the killing was planned.
After listening to it and talking with Turkish officials, Haspel returned to Washington.
The White House declined to provide details of her Thursday briefing, saying only that she had informed the president on her “findings and discussions.”
The briefing, which the State Department said Pompeo attended, coincided with the new statement by the Saudi prosecutor, which appeared designed at least in part to jump ahead of any conclusions the administration might draw from the new information.
The Saudi statement said that the preliminary results of the joint investigation with Turkey had yielded “information from the Turkish side . . . suggesting that suspects in the incident had committed their act with a premeditated intention.”
A translation of the statement, published in Arabic, was provided by the Saudi Embassy in Washington.
“The public prosecution continues its investigations with the accused in light of the information it has received and the results of its investigations to clarify the facts and complete the course of justice,” the translated statement said.
It was not immediately clear how Haspel’s report and the announcement from Riyadh would affect the administration’s thinking amid bipartisan demands from Congress for severe punishment of Saudi Arabia — the nation at the center of Trump’s Middle East policy.
Trump has publicly resisted calls to end weapons sales to the Saudis, the world’s largest purchaser of U.S. defense equipment, saying that it would cost American jobs.
But the succession of events this week has underscored the rapidly mounting pressures on Saudi Arabia to fully illuminate Khashoggi’s killing, amid increasing global skepticism.
U.S. and foreign officials and experts with knowledge of the kingdom have said that such an operation was virtually unthinkable without the knowledge and approval of the highest levels of the Saudi government, particularly the powerful and ambitious crown prince.
But Salman’s appointment of Mohammed to head the committee revamping the intelligence apparatus, and the prince’s appearance this week to host global government and industry leaders at a Riyadh investment conference, has all but ended speculation that his position was threatened.
Appearing at the conference Wednesday, Mohammed called the journalist’s killing “a heinous crime.”
In another sign that the kingdom is seeking to contain the widespread fallout, Salah Khashoggi, the eldest son of Jamal Khashoggi, has left Saudi Arabia, two people close to the family said Thursday.
The son, a dual U.S.-Saudi citizen who was photographed receiving condolences from Salman and Mohammed on Tuesday, had previously been restricted from leaving.
Salah Khashoggi was headed to the United States to join his three siblings, who are already here, according to one of the people.
The photos and video footage of him meeting with the king and crown prince were released by the Saudi government in an apparent effort to showcase their sympathy.
Instead, the images elicited scorn on social media, with critics accusing the leaders of exploiting a grieving son.
State Department deputy spokesman Robert J. Palladino told reporters that “we made it clear that we wanted him to be able to return [to the United States], and are pleased that he’s been able to do what he so desires.”
Asked if the son had faced obstacles in leaving Saudi Arabia, Palladino said he was “not aware” of any.
Jamal Khashoggi, 59, was a contributing columnist for The Washington Post who was living in Virginia after leaving Saudi Arabia because of fear about his safety.
He had been planning to settle in Istanbul and marry his Turkish fiancee when he was detained and killed in the Saudi Consulate.
Also Thursday, the European Union issued a fresh condemnation of Khashoggi’s killing and reiterated its skepticism that it could have been carried out without Mohammed’s knowledge.
The European Parliament passed a nonbinding resolution urging a European Union-wide arms embargo on Saudi Arabia in response.
The resolution came several days after Germany became the first Western government to suspend arms sales to Saudi Arabia, the world’s largest arms importer.
French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Theresa May both spoke via telephone with Salman, according to a statement issued by the Saudi Foreign Ministry late Thursday, hours after the European Parliament’s resolution passed.
According to an Elysee Palace readout of the conversation, Macron pressed the Saudi king for more clarity on what happened to Khashoggi and told him France considers freedom of expression and freedom of the press an “essential priority.”
But Britain and France have both stopped short of suspending arms sales to the desert kingdom.
Through a steady stream of leaks to Turkish and foreign media outlets, Turkish officials have mounted a compelling case that the Saudi agents planned all along to kill Khashoggi, dismember him and dispose of his remains.
The Turks have identified a Saudi forensics specialist who is an expert in mobile autopsies and traveled to Istanbul the day Khashoggi was planning to visit the consulate.
They also photographed Saudi diplomatic vehicles scouting wooded areas in the days before Khashoggi disappeared.
In addition, the leaks have featured surveillance pictures of a Saudi agent wearing Khashoggi’s clothes and a fake beard and leaving the consulate, in what appears to be an orchestrated bid to fool investigators into thinking the journalist had safely left the diplomatic mission, as the Saudis initially claimed.
Although the Turks have mounted an extensive search of the consulate and other areas in Istanbul, they have released no information indicating his remains have been found.
karen.deyoung@washpost.com
tamer.el-ghobashy@washpost.com
kareem.fahim@washpost.com
El-Ghobashy and Fahim reported from Istanbul. John Hudson and Josh Dawsey in Washington, James McAuley in Paris and Quentin Ariès in Brussels contributed to this report.
http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/sau ... id=HPDHP17
"CIA director briefs president on audio purportedly capturing the killing of Jamal Khashoggi"
Karen DeYoung, Tamer El-Ghobashy, Kareem Fahim
26 OCTOBER 2018
CIA Director Gina Haspel briefed President Trump on Thursday about her trip this week to Turkey, where she listened to audio purportedly capturing the killing of Jamal Khashoggi, as Saudi Arabia appeared to acknowledge that its agents had murdered the dissident Saudi journalist in a “premeditated” operation.
A statement issued by the public prosecutor in Riyadh, citing shared Turkish evidence of premeditation, marked the latest reversal in the Saudi version of events and put the focus directly on the question of who ordered Khashoggi’s death.
U.S. intelligence officials and lawmakers have said that the killing, in a foreign country, of a critic of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman was unlikely to have taken place without the knowledge of the kingdom’s most senior leaders.
Khashoggi was last seen entering the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul on Oct. 2.
Saudi authorities, who insisted for weeks that he had left the building after a meeting and that they had no information on his whereabouts, said Saturday that their investigators had determined he was accidentally killed there during a brawl with Saudi agents.
The authorities said the agents were there to discuss his desire to return to the kingdom, but offered no indication of who had sent them.
The Saturday statement said that 18 unnamed Saudis had been arrested and that five senior officials had been fired.
It also said that a high-level committee to restructure Saudi intelligence agencies — headed by Mohammed — had been formed and that a joint Turkish-Saudi investigation into Khashoggi’s death was underway.
Mohammed and his father, King Salman, have both repeatedly assured Trump and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who traveled to Saudi Arabia last week, that they had no knowledge of a plot to kill Khashoggi.
Trump initially described the Saudi explanation Saturday as credible.
But in recent days he has expressed doubt, calling it “the worst coverup ever,” although he has not directly pointed the finger at the Saudi leadership.
Instead, Pompeo announced that visas held by the arrested Saudis were being revoked, and the White House on Monday dispatched Haspel to Turkey.
On Tuesday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said publicly for the first time that there was evidence the killing had been “planned” — presumably including the audio reportedly recorded inside the consulate by Turkish intelligence.
The recording is the central piece of evidence Turkey has used to assert that the killing was planned.
After listening to it and talking with Turkish officials, Haspel returned to Washington.
The White House declined to provide details of her Thursday briefing, saying only that she had informed the president on her “findings and discussions.”
The briefing, which the State Department said Pompeo attended, coincided with the new statement by the Saudi prosecutor, which appeared designed at least in part to jump ahead of any conclusions the administration might draw from the new information.
The Saudi statement said that the preliminary results of the joint investigation with Turkey had yielded “information from the Turkish side . . . suggesting that suspects in the incident had committed their act with a premeditated intention.”
A translation of the statement, published in Arabic, was provided by the Saudi Embassy in Washington.
“The public prosecution continues its investigations with the accused in light of the information it has received and the results of its investigations to clarify the facts and complete the course of justice,” the translated statement said.
It was not immediately clear how Haspel’s report and the announcement from Riyadh would affect the administration’s thinking amid bipartisan demands from Congress for severe punishment of Saudi Arabia — the nation at the center of Trump’s Middle East policy.
Trump has publicly resisted calls to end weapons sales to the Saudis, the world’s largest purchaser of U.S. defense equipment, saying that it would cost American jobs.
But the succession of events this week has underscored the rapidly mounting pressures on Saudi Arabia to fully illuminate Khashoggi’s killing, amid increasing global skepticism.
U.S. and foreign officials and experts with knowledge of the kingdom have said that such an operation was virtually unthinkable without the knowledge and approval of the highest levels of the Saudi government, particularly the powerful and ambitious crown prince.
But Salman’s appointment of Mohammed to head the committee revamping the intelligence apparatus, and the prince’s appearance this week to host global government and industry leaders at a Riyadh investment conference, has all but ended speculation that his position was threatened.
Appearing at the conference Wednesday, Mohammed called the journalist’s killing “a heinous crime.”
In another sign that the kingdom is seeking to contain the widespread fallout, Salah Khashoggi, the eldest son of Jamal Khashoggi, has left Saudi Arabia, two people close to the family said Thursday.
The son, a dual U.S.-Saudi citizen who was photographed receiving condolences from Salman and Mohammed on Tuesday, had previously been restricted from leaving.
Salah Khashoggi was headed to the United States to join his three siblings, who are already here, according to one of the people.
The photos and video footage of him meeting with the king and crown prince were released by the Saudi government in an apparent effort to showcase their sympathy.
Instead, the images elicited scorn on social media, with critics accusing the leaders of exploiting a grieving son.
State Department deputy spokesman Robert J. Palladino told reporters that “we made it clear that we wanted him to be able to return [to the United States], and are pleased that he’s been able to do what he so desires.”
Asked if the son had faced obstacles in leaving Saudi Arabia, Palladino said he was “not aware” of any.
Jamal Khashoggi, 59, was a contributing columnist for The Washington Post who was living in Virginia after leaving Saudi Arabia because of fear about his safety.
He had been planning to settle in Istanbul and marry his Turkish fiancee when he was detained and killed in the Saudi Consulate.
Also Thursday, the European Union issued a fresh condemnation of Khashoggi’s killing and reiterated its skepticism that it could have been carried out without Mohammed’s knowledge.
The European Parliament passed a nonbinding resolution urging a European Union-wide arms embargo on Saudi Arabia in response.
The resolution came several days after Germany became the first Western government to suspend arms sales to Saudi Arabia, the world’s largest arms importer.
French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Theresa May both spoke via telephone with Salman, according to a statement issued by the Saudi Foreign Ministry late Thursday, hours after the European Parliament’s resolution passed.
According to an Elysee Palace readout of the conversation, Macron pressed the Saudi king for more clarity on what happened to Khashoggi and told him France considers freedom of expression and freedom of the press an “essential priority.”
But Britain and France have both stopped short of suspending arms sales to the desert kingdom.
Through a steady stream of leaks to Turkish and foreign media outlets, Turkish officials have mounted a compelling case that the Saudi agents planned all along to kill Khashoggi, dismember him and dispose of his remains.
The Turks have identified a Saudi forensics specialist who is an expert in mobile autopsies and traveled to Istanbul the day Khashoggi was planning to visit the consulate.
They also photographed Saudi diplomatic vehicles scouting wooded areas in the days before Khashoggi disappeared.
In addition, the leaks have featured surveillance pictures of a Saudi agent wearing Khashoggi’s clothes and a fake beard and leaving the consulate, in what appears to be an orchestrated bid to fool investigators into thinking the journalist had safely left the diplomatic mission, as the Saudis initially claimed.
Although the Turks have mounted an extensive search of the consulate and other areas in Istanbul, they have released no information indicating his remains have been found.
karen.deyoung@washpost.com
tamer.el-ghobashy@washpost.com
kareem.fahim@washpost.com
El-Ghobashy and Fahim reported from Istanbul. John Hudson and Josh Dawsey in Washington, James McAuley in Paris and Quentin Ariès in Brussels contributed to this report.
http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/sau ... id=HPDHP17
Re: TURKEY
THE WASHINGTON POST
"Prosecutor says Khashoggi was strangled and dismembered, but fate of body still a mystery?
Kareem Fahim, Tamer El-Ghobashy, Louisa Loveluck
1 NOVEMBER 2018
ISTANBUL — Turkey’s top prosecutor on Wednesday laid out the most detailed description yet of how the journalist Jamal Khashoggi was killed, saying Saudi agents strangled him almost immediately after he entered the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul and then dismembered his body.
But the new information did not address the question that has bedeviled investigators and been the subject of furious speculation: What happened to Khashoggi’s remains?
A senior Turkish official said in an interview that Turkish authorities are pursuing a theory that Khashoggi’s dismembered body was destroyed in acid on the grounds of the Saudi Consulate or at the nearby residence of the Saudi consul general.
Biological evidence discovered in the consulate garden supports the theory that Khashoggi’s body was disposed of close to where he was killed and dismembered, the official said.
“Khashoggi’s body was not in need of burying,” said the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive investigation.
While Saudi officials now acknowledge that Khashoggi was killed inside the consulate on Oct. 2, all they have said about his body is that the assailants gave it to a “local collaborator” for disposal.
The senior Turkish official said Turkish investigators do not believe such a figure exists.
A second senior Turkish official said that Saudi Arabia’s top prosecutor, Saud al-Mojeb, who completed a three-day visit to Istanbul on Wednesday, did not provide the location of Khashoggi’s body or identify any “local collaborator.”
Since Mojeb arrived in Turkey on Monday, “Saudi officials seemed primarily interested in finding out what evidence the Turkish authorities had against the perpetrators,” the Turkish official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss private law enforcement contacts.
“We did not get the impression that they were keen on genuinely cooperating with the investigation.”
Turkish prosecutor Irfan Fidan issued his public description of the killing shortly after Mojeb left Istanbul, amid mounting Turkish complaints about a lack of Saudi cooperation.
Fidan said Khashoggi was “strangled as soon as he entered the consulate” in line with “premeditated plans.”
The body, “after being strangled, was subsequently destroyed by being dismembered, once again confirming the planning of the murder,” Fidan said.
The Turkish statement used the word “bogulmak,” which can also mean suffocation.
Turkish officials say members of a 15-man hit team dispatched from Saudi Arabia killed Khashoggi inside the consulate before flying out of Turkey later the same day.
The Turkish government says it has an audio recording of what transpired inside the mission.
Although Turkish officials have played the audio for CIA officials, including Director Gina Haspel, Turkish officials have not released the audio to the public.
Saudi Arabia has provided shifting explanations about what happened to Khashoggi, a Saudi citizen, contributing columnist to The Washington Post and critic of the Saudi leadership, including the de facto Saudi ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
For more than two weeks, Saudi authorities repeatedly denied any knowledge of Khashoggi’s whereabouts, then abruptly changed their account, blaming the killing on agents acting outside the Saudi government’s authority.
Turkish investigators initially focused their search for Khashoggi’s body in two wooded areas outside Istanbul, guided in part by surveillance footage that Turkish authorities said showed Saudi diplomatic vehicles apparently scouting Belgrad Forest the night before the journalist was killed.
Last week, investigators suspended the search, focusing instead on the consulate’s grounds and the consul general’s residence.
The search focused in particular on a well on consular property, where the assailants could have disposed of Khashoggi’s dissolved remains, the first senior Turkish official said.
Investigators last week also inspected the sewer system near the consulate, according to Turkey’s state-run Anadolu news agency.
Turkish officials, including President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, have repeatedly complained that Saudi Arabia is hampering the investigation by refusing to provide critical pieces of information, including the location of Khashoggi’s body.
Turkey has also requested the extradition of 18 suspects who the Saudi government says have been arrested in the case.
Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir said the suspects will be tried in domestic courts.
On Wednesday, a Saudi official said the kingdom had not officially concluded that Khashoggi’s death was premeditated.
“The public prosecutor has acknowledged seeing that information from the Turkish side."
"We have not said if that is true or not true."
"We are waiting for the results of the investigation,” the official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity because he was not permitted to speak to the media.
The journalist’s death and the inconsistent Saudi explanations of his killing have unleashed a storm of international criticism, placing President Trump in a difficult situation.
In addition to being a major purchaser of American weapons, Saudi Arabia sits at the heart of the administration’s strategy in the Middle East, in particular U.S. efforts to counter what Washington says are Iran’s expansionist policies.
Trump has said he is “not satisfied” with the Saudi explanations of Khashoggi’s death.
Defense Secretary Jim Mattis has warned that the crisis could affect regional stability.
But there are few indications that Khashoggi’s death will fundamentally alter the relationship between the two nations.
On Wednesday, a group of Republican senators called on Trump to suspend negotiations for a U.S.-Saudi civil nuclear agreement.
They cited Khashoggi’s death, as well as Riyadh’s policies toward Lebanon and Yemen, as cause for “serious concerns about the transparency, accountability and judgment of current decision-makers.”
Although the Turkish announcement Wednesday appeared to partly illuminate what happened to Khashoggi, several central questions remain, including who ordered his killing and whether the crown prince was aware of the operation.
While Riyadh has painted the killing as a rogue plot, Western officials say it is unlikely that something this complex could have been carried out without Mohammed’s knowledge.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said Wednesday that his government would take “necessary measures” against those responsible for the journalist’s death.
“So long as those who are responsible and the circumstances around the killing are not made public, released and evaluated, we will go on demanding the truth,” he said.
kareem.fahim@washpost.com
tamer.el-ghobashy@washpost.com
louisa.loveluck@washpost.com
Zeynep Karatas in Istanbul and Kevin Sullivan in Riyadh contributed to this report.
http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/tur ... id=HPDHP17
"Prosecutor says Khashoggi was strangled and dismembered, but fate of body still a mystery?
Kareem Fahim, Tamer El-Ghobashy, Louisa Loveluck
1 NOVEMBER 2018
ISTANBUL — Turkey’s top prosecutor on Wednesday laid out the most detailed description yet of how the journalist Jamal Khashoggi was killed, saying Saudi agents strangled him almost immediately after he entered the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul and then dismembered his body.
But the new information did not address the question that has bedeviled investigators and been the subject of furious speculation: What happened to Khashoggi’s remains?
A senior Turkish official said in an interview that Turkish authorities are pursuing a theory that Khashoggi’s dismembered body was destroyed in acid on the grounds of the Saudi Consulate or at the nearby residence of the Saudi consul general.
Biological evidence discovered in the consulate garden supports the theory that Khashoggi’s body was disposed of close to where he was killed and dismembered, the official said.
“Khashoggi’s body was not in need of burying,” said the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive investigation.
While Saudi officials now acknowledge that Khashoggi was killed inside the consulate on Oct. 2, all they have said about his body is that the assailants gave it to a “local collaborator” for disposal.
The senior Turkish official said Turkish investigators do not believe such a figure exists.
A second senior Turkish official said that Saudi Arabia’s top prosecutor, Saud al-Mojeb, who completed a three-day visit to Istanbul on Wednesday, did not provide the location of Khashoggi’s body or identify any “local collaborator.”
Since Mojeb arrived in Turkey on Monday, “Saudi officials seemed primarily interested in finding out what evidence the Turkish authorities had against the perpetrators,” the Turkish official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss private law enforcement contacts.
“We did not get the impression that they were keen on genuinely cooperating with the investigation.”
Turkish prosecutor Irfan Fidan issued his public description of the killing shortly after Mojeb left Istanbul, amid mounting Turkish complaints about a lack of Saudi cooperation.
Fidan said Khashoggi was “strangled as soon as he entered the consulate” in line with “premeditated plans.”
The body, “after being strangled, was subsequently destroyed by being dismembered, once again confirming the planning of the murder,” Fidan said.
The Turkish statement used the word “bogulmak,” which can also mean suffocation.
Turkish officials say members of a 15-man hit team dispatched from Saudi Arabia killed Khashoggi inside the consulate before flying out of Turkey later the same day.
The Turkish government says it has an audio recording of what transpired inside the mission.
Although Turkish officials have played the audio for CIA officials, including Director Gina Haspel, Turkish officials have not released the audio to the public.
Saudi Arabia has provided shifting explanations about what happened to Khashoggi, a Saudi citizen, contributing columnist to The Washington Post and critic of the Saudi leadership, including the de facto Saudi ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
For more than two weeks, Saudi authorities repeatedly denied any knowledge of Khashoggi’s whereabouts, then abruptly changed their account, blaming the killing on agents acting outside the Saudi government’s authority.
Turkish investigators initially focused their search for Khashoggi’s body in two wooded areas outside Istanbul, guided in part by surveillance footage that Turkish authorities said showed Saudi diplomatic vehicles apparently scouting Belgrad Forest the night before the journalist was killed.
Last week, investigators suspended the search, focusing instead on the consulate’s grounds and the consul general’s residence.
The search focused in particular on a well on consular property, where the assailants could have disposed of Khashoggi’s dissolved remains, the first senior Turkish official said.
Investigators last week also inspected the sewer system near the consulate, according to Turkey’s state-run Anadolu news agency.
Turkish officials, including President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, have repeatedly complained that Saudi Arabia is hampering the investigation by refusing to provide critical pieces of information, including the location of Khashoggi’s body.
Turkey has also requested the extradition of 18 suspects who the Saudi government says have been arrested in the case.
Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir said the suspects will be tried in domestic courts.
On Wednesday, a Saudi official said the kingdom had not officially concluded that Khashoggi’s death was premeditated.
“The public prosecutor has acknowledged seeing that information from the Turkish side."
"We have not said if that is true or not true."
"We are waiting for the results of the investigation,” the official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity because he was not permitted to speak to the media.
The journalist’s death and the inconsistent Saudi explanations of his killing have unleashed a storm of international criticism, placing President Trump in a difficult situation.
In addition to being a major purchaser of American weapons, Saudi Arabia sits at the heart of the administration’s strategy in the Middle East, in particular U.S. efforts to counter what Washington says are Iran’s expansionist policies.
Trump has said he is “not satisfied” with the Saudi explanations of Khashoggi’s death.
Defense Secretary Jim Mattis has warned that the crisis could affect regional stability.
But there are few indications that Khashoggi’s death will fundamentally alter the relationship between the two nations.
On Wednesday, a group of Republican senators called on Trump to suspend negotiations for a U.S.-Saudi civil nuclear agreement.
They cited Khashoggi’s death, as well as Riyadh’s policies toward Lebanon and Yemen, as cause for “serious concerns about the transparency, accountability and judgment of current decision-makers.”
Although the Turkish announcement Wednesday appeared to partly illuminate what happened to Khashoggi, several central questions remain, including who ordered his killing and whether the crown prince was aware of the operation.
While Riyadh has painted the killing as a rogue plot, Western officials say it is unlikely that something this complex could have been carried out without Mohammed’s knowledge.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said Wednesday that his government would take “necessary measures” against those responsible for the journalist’s death.
“So long as those who are responsible and the circumstances around the killing are not made public, released and evaluated, we will go on demanding the truth,” he said.
kareem.fahim@washpost.com
tamer.el-ghobashy@washpost.com
louisa.loveluck@washpost.com
Zeynep Karatas in Istanbul and Kevin Sullivan in Riyadh contributed to this report.
http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/tur ... id=HPDHP17
Re: TURKEY
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
"Erdogan says Turkey will ignore U.S. sanctions on Iran"
By David Gauthier-Villars
Published: Nov 6, 2018 4:45 p.m. ET
ISTANBUL — Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Tuesday that his country would ignore sanctions the U.S. introduced against Iran this week — a defiant tone that could complicate Ankara’s recent efforts to defuse tension with Washington.
Erdogan lashed out at the Trump administration, saying the U.S. sanctions risked disrupting the world order.
“We do not want to live in an imperialist world,” Erdogan told reporters after a meeting with lawmakers from his ruling Justice and Development Party.
“We will absolutely not abide by such sanctions.”
Without vital natural-gas imports from Iran, he said, Turkey wouldn’t be able to get through the winter.
“We cannot let our people freeze in the cold,” the Turkish president said.
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/erdog ... ewer_click
"Erdogan says Turkey will ignore U.S. sanctions on Iran"
By David Gauthier-Villars
Published: Nov 6, 2018 4:45 p.m. ET
ISTANBUL — Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Tuesday that his country would ignore sanctions the U.S. introduced against Iran this week — a defiant tone that could complicate Ankara’s recent efforts to defuse tension with Washington.
Erdogan lashed out at the Trump administration, saying the U.S. sanctions risked disrupting the world order.
“We do not want to live in an imperialist world,” Erdogan told reporters after a meeting with lawmakers from his ruling Justice and Development Party.
“We will absolutely not abide by such sanctions.”
Without vital natural-gas imports from Iran, he said, Turkey wouldn’t be able to get through the winter.
“We cannot let our people freeze in the cold,” the Turkish president said.
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/erdog ... ewer_click
Re: TURKEY
ALJAZEERA
"Turkey sends reinforcements to Syrian border - Despite plans to delay crossborder military operation on YPG forces, Ankara sends more armoured vehicles to its border."
23 Dec 2018
Turkey is sending reinforcements to its border with Syria, Turkish media reported on Sunday, adding that some 100 vehicles, including mounted pick-up trucks and weaponry, had made their way to the area.
The heightened military activity comes days after President Tayyip Erdogan said Turkey would postpone a planned military operation on the armed Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) group in northern Syria, after the United States's surprise announcement to withdraw its troops from Syria.
Washington has for years supported the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in the fight against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS) group in Syria, as part of an international coalition dominated by the YPG.
But, on Wednesday, US President Donald Trump said he was ordering a withdrawal of the estimated 2,000 US troops in Syria because ISIL had been defeated, an assessment criticised by many.
US officials have said the details were yet finalised, but they expect the country's forces to be out of Syria by mid-January.
Anger over YPG
In June, the NATO allies reached an agreement that would see the YPG removed from the area, but Turkey has complained the plan hadn't been implemented.
Turkish media said the Turkish convoy, headed towards the border district of Kilis, located in the southern province of Hatay, included tanks, howitzers, machine guns and buses carrying commandos.
Turkey's state media, including TRT and Anadolu Agency, ran live footage from the outskirts of Manbij, a Syrian town in the Elbeyli district, which has been a source of tension between Ankara and Washington.
Part of the military equipment and personnel are to be positioned in posts along the border while some had crossed into Syria via Elbeyli, private Demiroren News Agency said.
"Around 35 tanks and other heavy weapons, carried on board tank carriers, crossed the Jarablos border crossing in the early evening," Rami Abdel Rahman, the head of the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, told AFP on Saturday.
“They headed for an area near the Sajour River, between Jarablos and Manbij, not far from the front lines where Kurdish fighters of the Manbij Military Council are stationed,” he added.
Erdogan said on Friday that Turkey would take over the fight against the ISIL group in Syria as the US withdraws its troops, adding that the planned operation would target the YPG as well as ISIL in Syria.
Ankara considers the US-backed YPG a "terrorist" group and an extension of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which has waged attacks on Turkish soil since the 1980s in demand for autonomy.
In the past two years, Turkey has conducted two offensives into northern Syria, dubbed "Euphrates Shield" and "Olive Branch".
In 2016, it launched an operation against ISIL, which also aimed to block the YPG from joining up the territory it held in northern Syria.
In January 2018, Turkey staged an offensive against Kurdish fighters in its northwestern enclave of Afrin.
SOURCE: Al Jazeera and news agencies
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2018/12/ ... 26924.html
"Turkey sends reinforcements to Syrian border - Despite plans to delay crossborder military operation on YPG forces, Ankara sends more armoured vehicles to its border."
23 Dec 2018
Turkey is sending reinforcements to its border with Syria, Turkish media reported on Sunday, adding that some 100 vehicles, including mounted pick-up trucks and weaponry, had made their way to the area.
The heightened military activity comes days after President Tayyip Erdogan said Turkey would postpone a planned military operation on the armed Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) group in northern Syria, after the United States's surprise announcement to withdraw its troops from Syria.
Washington has for years supported the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in the fight against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS) group in Syria, as part of an international coalition dominated by the YPG.
But, on Wednesday, US President Donald Trump said he was ordering a withdrawal of the estimated 2,000 US troops in Syria because ISIL had been defeated, an assessment criticised by many.
US officials have said the details were yet finalised, but they expect the country's forces to be out of Syria by mid-January.
Anger over YPG
In June, the NATO allies reached an agreement that would see the YPG removed from the area, but Turkey has complained the plan hadn't been implemented.
Turkish media said the Turkish convoy, headed towards the border district of Kilis, located in the southern province of Hatay, included tanks, howitzers, machine guns and buses carrying commandos.
Turkey's state media, including TRT and Anadolu Agency, ran live footage from the outskirts of Manbij, a Syrian town in the Elbeyli district, which has been a source of tension between Ankara and Washington.
Part of the military equipment and personnel are to be positioned in posts along the border while some had crossed into Syria via Elbeyli, private Demiroren News Agency said.
"Around 35 tanks and other heavy weapons, carried on board tank carriers, crossed the Jarablos border crossing in the early evening," Rami Abdel Rahman, the head of the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, told AFP on Saturday.
“They headed for an area near the Sajour River, between Jarablos and Manbij, not far from the front lines where Kurdish fighters of the Manbij Military Council are stationed,” he added.
Erdogan said on Friday that Turkey would take over the fight against the ISIL group in Syria as the US withdraws its troops, adding that the planned operation would target the YPG as well as ISIL in Syria.
Ankara considers the US-backed YPG a "terrorist" group and an extension of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which has waged attacks on Turkish soil since the 1980s in demand for autonomy.
In the past two years, Turkey has conducted two offensives into northern Syria, dubbed "Euphrates Shield" and "Olive Branch".
In 2016, it launched an operation against ISIL, which also aimed to block the YPG from joining up the territory it held in northern Syria.
In January 2018, Turkey staged an offensive against Kurdish fighters in its northwestern enclave of Afrin.
SOURCE: Al Jazeera and news agencies
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2018/12/ ... 26924.html
Re: TURKEY
ALJAZEERA
"Turkey-backed rebels 'move forces' near Kurdish-held areas - Syrian rebels deploy fighters and armoured vehicles ahead of expected Turkish operation, a pro-Turkish commander says."
24 DECEMBER 2018
Turkish-backed Syrian fighters have sent reinforcements to the front line along the northern Syrian areas controlled by Kurdish fighters, Turkey's state-run Anadolu Agency reported on Monday, days after Washington took an unexpected decision to withdraw troops from the war-torn country.
The Hamza Division, a part of the Syrian rebels supported by Turkey, dispatched fighters and armoured vehicles to the border between the areas controlled by the Kurdish People's Protection Forces (YPG) and the Syrian regime, Abu Yazan, a commanding officer, told the agency.
He said the troops will take up important tasks during an expected Turkish military operation in the northern Syrian border city of Manbij.
"Our units headed out to contact regions" controlled by the YPG, Abu Yazan said.
A Turkish operation in Syria is expected to target some of the areas under the control of YPG fighters, who Ankara considers to be terrorists.
On Monday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan renewed his threats to target Kurdish fighters as he sent more troops to the border with Syria ahead of an imminent US withdrawal.
The US has an estimated 2,000 US troops in Syria.
Turkey was in Syria "to return the freedom of our Arab brothers and sisters, to return the freedom of our Kurdish brothers and sisters", Erdogan said during a speech in Ankara.
A Turkish military convoy arrived overnight on Monday at the border with Syria, with local media reporting that some vehicles had entered Syria, AFP news agency reported.
In the past two years, Turkey has conducted two offensives into northern Syria, dubbed "Euphrates Shield" and "Olive Branch".
Surprising decision
US President Donald Trump's surprise decision to withdraw forces from Syria on Wednesday has created shock among members of the US Congress, including Republicans, as well as among Washington's Western allies.
Erdogan's spokesman said on Monday that US military officials will come to Turkey this week to discuss coordination on Syria.
Washington has for years supported the YPG-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in the fight against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS) group in Syria.
A senior Syrian Kurdish official said they were reaching out for help to protect the Kurdish-administered areas against a possible Turkish offensive following the US withdrawal.
"We will deal with whoever can protect the good and stability of this country," the Associated Press news agency quoted Ilham Ahmed as saying on Monday.
Ahmed reportedly said they were in talks with Russia, the Syrian government and European countries to discuss ways to deal with the US withdrawal - without elaborating further.
SDF delegation in Moscow
Meanwhile, a delegation of the SDF arrived in Moscow on Monday for talks.
Pavel Felgenhauer, a military analyst, said that Syrian Kurds are likely to turn to Moscow and Damascus after US forces leave the region.
"[Syrian] Kurds have a longtime relationship with Russia."
"They have an unofficial embassy in Moscow."
"They are likely to turn to Russia and possibly the Syrian regime for protection," he told Al Jazeera from Moscow.
When the US forces leave, Russia, Turkey, the regime and Iran will try to carve a solution that determines who gets to control the oil-rich Deir Az Zor region, the border and other areas.
Ankara claims the YPG is an extension of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which has waged attacks on Turkish soil since the 1980s as they sought autonomy.
SOURCE: Al Jazeera and news agencies
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2018/12/ ... 31699.html
"Turkey-backed rebels 'move forces' near Kurdish-held areas - Syrian rebels deploy fighters and armoured vehicles ahead of expected Turkish operation, a pro-Turkish commander says."
24 DECEMBER 2018
Turkish-backed Syrian fighters have sent reinforcements to the front line along the northern Syrian areas controlled by Kurdish fighters, Turkey's state-run Anadolu Agency reported on Monday, days after Washington took an unexpected decision to withdraw troops from the war-torn country.
The Hamza Division, a part of the Syrian rebels supported by Turkey, dispatched fighters and armoured vehicles to the border between the areas controlled by the Kurdish People's Protection Forces (YPG) and the Syrian regime, Abu Yazan, a commanding officer, told the agency.
He said the troops will take up important tasks during an expected Turkish military operation in the northern Syrian border city of Manbij.
"Our units headed out to contact regions" controlled by the YPG, Abu Yazan said.
A Turkish operation in Syria is expected to target some of the areas under the control of YPG fighters, who Ankara considers to be terrorists.
On Monday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan renewed his threats to target Kurdish fighters as he sent more troops to the border with Syria ahead of an imminent US withdrawal.
The US has an estimated 2,000 US troops in Syria.
Turkey was in Syria "to return the freedom of our Arab brothers and sisters, to return the freedom of our Kurdish brothers and sisters", Erdogan said during a speech in Ankara.
A Turkish military convoy arrived overnight on Monday at the border with Syria, with local media reporting that some vehicles had entered Syria, AFP news agency reported.
In the past two years, Turkey has conducted two offensives into northern Syria, dubbed "Euphrates Shield" and "Olive Branch".
Surprising decision
US President Donald Trump's surprise decision to withdraw forces from Syria on Wednesday has created shock among members of the US Congress, including Republicans, as well as among Washington's Western allies.
Erdogan's spokesman said on Monday that US military officials will come to Turkey this week to discuss coordination on Syria.
Washington has for years supported the YPG-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in the fight against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS) group in Syria.
A senior Syrian Kurdish official said they were reaching out for help to protect the Kurdish-administered areas against a possible Turkish offensive following the US withdrawal.
"We will deal with whoever can protect the good and stability of this country," the Associated Press news agency quoted Ilham Ahmed as saying on Monday.
Ahmed reportedly said they were in talks with Russia, the Syrian government and European countries to discuss ways to deal with the US withdrawal - without elaborating further.
SDF delegation in Moscow
Meanwhile, a delegation of the SDF arrived in Moscow on Monday for talks.
Pavel Felgenhauer, a military analyst, said that Syrian Kurds are likely to turn to Moscow and Damascus after US forces leave the region.
"[Syrian] Kurds have a longtime relationship with Russia."
"They have an unofficial embassy in Moscow."
"They are likely to turn to Russia and possibly the Syrian regime for protection," he told Al Jazeera from Moscow.
When the US forces leave, Russia, Turkey, the regime and Iran will try to carve a solution that determines who gets to control the oil-rich Deir Az Zor region, the border and other areas.
Ankara claims the YPG is an extension of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which has waged attacks on Turkish soil since the 1980s as they sought autonomy.
SOURCE: Al Jazeera and news agencies
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2018/12/ ... 31699.html