Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi was tortured and decapitated inside Riyadh’s consulate in Istanbul, a Turkish newspaper reported Wednesday, saying it had heard audio recordings of the brutal slaying.
Khashoggi, a Washington Post columnist who vanished after visiting the consulate on Oct. 2 to pick up paperwork ahead of his wedding, had his fingers chopped off before he was beheaded, according to the pro-government Yeni Safak.
Saudi Consul Mohammed al-Otaibi can be heard on one tape saying during Khashoggi’s torture: “Do this outside. You are going to get me in trouble,” according to the paper, which did not reveal how it obtained the tapes.
In another tape, an unknown person tells Otaibi: “If you want to live when you come to Saudi Arabia, be quiet!”
Otaibi returned to Riyadh on Tuesday ahead of a planned search of his residence as part of the official Turkish probe into Khashoggi’s disappearance.
The Middle East Eye English-language website quoted a Turkish source saying that there was “no attempt to interrogate” Khashoggi, but that a Saudi hit team had “come to kill him,” AFP reported.
The source told the site that his death took seven minutes, with forensic physician Dr. Salah Muhammed Al-Tubaigy listening to music as he began to cut Khashoggi’s body while he was still alive.
Turkish authorities believe Khashoggi was killed by a special team of 15 Saudi officials, though Riyadh has dismissed such claims as “baseless.”
The gruesome report comes as Secretary of State Mike Pompeo met Wednesday with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Foreign Minsiter Mevlut Cavusoglu in Ankara after arriving from Riyadh, where he said the Saudis promised a thorough investigation.
The top US diplomat on Wednesday refused to blame Riyadh, saying he did not want “to talk about any of the facts” – a day after President Trump said the kingdom must be presumed to be innocent.
Several of the members of the alleged hit team were found to have close ties to Prince Mohammed, according to a photo analysis by The New York Times.
Turkish officials have shared an audio recording with the US and Saudi Arabia that they say proved Khashoggi was murdered by Saudi operatives – but the report by Yeni Safak is the first time a Turkish media outlet has claimed to hear the damning tapes.
The pro-government paper Sabah has reported that Khashoggi’s Apple Watch recorded his interrogation, torture and killing, but some experts have said it was unlikely the watch could have recorded the events in that manner.
Before leaving Riyadh, Pompeo told reporters that the Saudi leaders “made no exceptions on who they would hold accountable.”
“They made a commitment to hold anyone connected to any wrongdoing that may be found accountable for that, whether they are a senior officer or official,” Pompeo said.
CNN has cited two sources as saying the Saudis are preparing a report that Khashoggi’s death was the result of a botched interrogation.
NY Post.
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