Trudeau confirms Canadian intel listened to Khashoggi murder tapes

Source
Tue, 13 Nov 2018 18:27 UTC

© REUTERS / Chris Bolin

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau confirmed that Turkey has shared audio tapes with Canada related to the murder of Saudi opposition journalist Jamal Khashoggi, thus becoming a first foreign leader to confirm the existence of the recordings.

Last week, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that the recordings were shared with France, Saudi Arabia, the United Kingdom and the United States, among others. French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said that he was not aware whether Turkey had actually shared the information and accused the Turkish leader of "playing political games."

"Canada's intelligence agencies have been working very closely on this issue with Turkish intelligence and Canada has been fully briefed on what Turkey had to share," Trudeau said at a press conference in Paris on Monday.

The Canadian prime minister confirmed that the intelligence had heard the tapes, but added that he "has not" heard the tapes himself.

"I had a conversation with Erdogan a couple of weeks ago, and here in Paris we had brief exchanges and I thanked him for his strength in responding to the Khashoggi situation," Trudeau added.

Earlier, Canadian Prime Minister said that his government is willing to freeze exports of military hardware to Saudi Arabia following the death of Saudi journalist, according to reports.

Comment: Funny. Kill tens of thousands of Yemenis - no problem. Kill a journalist - no more weapons to murder Yemenis!

Khashoggi, a Washington Post columnist known for his criticism of Saudi policies, disappeared on October 2 after entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. Saudi Arabia's acknowledgement that the journalist had been killed in a fight inside the consulate came after two weeks of denials and growing pressure from Western allies to provide explanations. According to Riyadh, 18 people have been arrested over their involvement in the incident.

Comment: According to Erdogan, the recordings "shocked" a Saudi intelligence officer when he heard them:

Speaking to reporters on his return from a trip with world leaders to Paris, France, the Turkish leader said the audio related to Khashoggi's murder perturbed a Saudi intelligence official who listened to it.

"The recordings are really appalling. Indeed when the Saudi intelligence officer listened to the recordings, he was so shocked he said: 'This one must have taken heroin, only someone who takes heroin would do this'," he added, Reuters reports.

Erdogan believes the murder occurred at the hands of top Saudi officials, although he said he does not think Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Salman (MBS), for whom he has "limitless respect", could order such an atrocity.