Saudis still lying: Turkish daily says audio proves latest Saudi explanation is another cover-up

RT
Sat, 17 Nov 2018 16:29 UTC

© Global Look Press / Depo Photos

A Saudi team had planned all along to kill journalist Jamal Khashoggi and never tried to talk him into anything, a Turkish daily reports, citing recordings held by police that call Riyadh's statement on the matter into question.

An audio tape, allegedly in the possession of Turkish investigators, features a 15-minute conversation, in which "the Saudi team discusses how to execute Khashoggi," the Turkish Hurriyet Daily wrote on Friday, citing its columnist Abdulkadir Selvi. In a recording that was allegedly made even before the journalist entered the Saudi consulate, "they are reviewing their plan, which was previously prepared, and reminding themselves of the duties of each member," he said.

The Hurriyet report contradicts the statement made by the Saudi deputy public prosecutor, Shaalan al-Shaalan, who said that the team was actually sent to Istanbul to retrieve the journalist and bring him back to Saudi Arabia. A decision to murder the reporter - and outspoken critic of Riyadh - was allegedly taken by the head of the team after its 'persuasion' failed.

Some other audio evidence obtained by the Turkish investigators also allegedly shows that the version of Khashoggi's killing presented by Riyadh just does not add up, Selvi reports. "Khashoggi's desperate attempts to survive could be heard in a seven-minute audio recording. There is no hint of anyone trying to persuade him," he says, referring to another tape, which allegedly proved that "Khashoggi was strangulated in 7-8 minutes."

The journalist and a Washington Post columnist entered the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on Oct. 2, never to be seen again. Turkey then accused Saudi Arabia of killing the reporter. Ankara also repeatedly claimed to have had audio of the blood-curdling murder ever since the journalist went missing.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said in particular that the recordings were shared with the US, French, British and Canadian as well as with Saudi leaders. He also said that a Saudi intelligence officer was "shocked" by what he heard at the recording, which he called "appalling."

However, no official information about the content of the recordings was ever revealed by Ankara. Various unconfirmed media reports suggested that Khashoggi was grabbed, drugged and dismembered with a bone saw. A report by Turkey's Daily Sabah also claimed to reveal the "murder kit" of the Saudi "hit squad" by publishing X ray pictures of their luggage.

Saudi Arabia initially denied killing the journalist but later changed its stance on the issue, several times. Most recently, the Saudi public prosecutor's office admitted that Khashoggi was murdered in an intelligence operation gone wrong.

The Saudi public prosecutor also already requested the death penalty for five people charged with ordering and committing the crime. Eleven people have been charged and 21 are being held for Khashoggi's murder, according to Saudi officials. A former top aide to Saudi crown prince Mohammed bin Salman is also under investigation in connection with the case, they added.

The high-profile affair also drew some reaction from the US, which was, in fact, quite restrained, even though the words were harsh as the journalist worked for the US media. Washington limited itself to sanctioning the Saudi crown prince's former top aide as well as 16 other Saudi nationals it believed might have been involved in the murder, including the Saudi Consul General in Istanbul. President Donald Trump refused to review or cancel US arms deals with Riyadh worth tens of billions of dollars.

Comment: Moon of Alabama summarizes the latest Saudi account as follows:

• The former Deputy President of the General Intelligence Presidency (GIP), Major General Ahmed al-Asiri, issued an order to the mission leader Maher Mutreb to bring Kashoggi back to Saudi Arabia by means of persuasion or by force.
• ‏The leader of the mission formed a 15-member team that consisted of three groups (negotiations/ intelligence/ logistics) to persuade and return the victim. Mutreb consulted with the now fired advisor to MbS, Saud al-Qahtani, because Qahtani knew Khashoggi.
• A forensic expert was included in the team "for the purpose of removing evidence from the scene in the case force had to be used to return the victim."
• The mission leader contacted a collaborator in Turkey "to secure a safe location in case force had to be used return the victim."
• "After surveying the Consulate, the head of the negotiation team concluded that it would not be possible to transfer the victim by force to the safe location in case the negotiations with him to return failed. The head of the negotiation team decided to murder the victim if the negotiations failed."
• The investigation concluded that the crime was carried out after a physical altercation with the victim where he was forcibly restrained and injected with a large amount of a drug resulting in an overdose that led to his death.
• The body was dismembered. Five people carried the parts out of the consulate and one of them later handed them over to a collaborator.
• One member of the mission put on Khashoggi's clothes, walked outside for a while and disposed them in a trash can.
• The leader of the mission agreed with the leader of the negotiation team to write a false report which claimed that Khashoggi had left the consulate.

So the Saudis are trying to exonerate MBS and his advisor, al-Qahtani. But the US Treasury Department, which sanctioned al-Qahtani, seems to think he played a more substantial role, in both the "planning and execution" of the operation, and that Mutreb was his subordinate.

This is of interest as one of the tapes the Turks have is of a phone call by mission leader Maher Mutreb with an unnamed person in Riyadh. In the call Mutrab says: "Tell your boss the deed is done":

While the prince was not mentioned by name, American intelligence officials believe "your boss" was a reference to Prince Mohammed. Maher Abdulaziz Mutreb, one of 15 Saudis dispatched to Istanbul to confront Mr. Khashoggi at the Saudi Consulate there, made the phone call and spoke in Arabic, the people said.

The killer team was set up by Ahmed al-Asiri, but al-Asiri is not mentioned in the Treasury designation, while al-Qahtani is. The U.S. seems to believe that it was al-Qahtani who actually directed the operation and who sent his subordinate Maher Mutreb to lead the mission. Qahtani's one and only boss is clown prince MbS.

MbS probably wants Qahtani back in his role as a personal and political advisor. The Saudi investigation puts him in a positive light while the Treasury gives him a leading role. The U.S. seem willing to let MbS stay in his job but it wants to remove Qahtani from his inner circle.

And then there's this: Reports claim CIA 'concludes with high confidence' Saudi Crown Prince ordered Khashoggi murder