Turkish officials disputed the official Saudi Arabia claim that Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi accidentially died Oct. 2 in a fistfight at the Saudi Embassy in Istanbul. After two weeks of silence, Saudi officials claimed Oct. 19 that Khashoggi died in a fistfight in the consulate yet couldn’t explain what happened to his body. Press reports had Khashoggi murdered by some 18 Saudi operatives who entered Turkey Oct. 1 at Ataturk International Airport on private jets. Saudi officials tried to cover up the crime, even passing a body-double before security cameras, trying to show Khashoggi left the Saudi consulate. Naming Mustaf al-Madani as the body-double, Turkish authorities served notice that they would not accept the Saudi’s official explanations for Khashoggi’s disappearance that don’t match the facts. With all the attempts at cover-up, Saudi officials have yet to come clean.
Videotape recorded from security cameras at the Saudi embassy clearly show Khasoggi entering the consulate Oct. 2 but didn’t shows him coming out. Security cameras caught Madani leaving the consulate in Khashoggi’s clothes. Press reports showed Saudi autopsy-forensic expert Salah Muhammed al-Tubaigy was among the 18 Saudi operatives at the Saudi embassy Oct. 2, allegedly wielding a bone saw with which Khasoggi was dismembered and transported out of the consulate. Turkish prosecutor Irfan Fidan confirmed that Khashoggi, contrary to official Saudi reports, was strangled on entry to the consulate, dismembered, then removed from the building. Turkish authorities have said discussions with Turkish prosecutor Fidan and Saudi prosecutor Saud al-Mojeb have yielded “concrete results” but don’t satisfy Turkish authorities to return 18 Saudis to Istanbul for prosecution.
Saudi officials can’t have it both ways from the top with 82-year-old King Salman and 33-year-old Defense Minister Mohammed bin Salman: Denying they had anything to do with Khashoggi’s murder and, at the same time, making up stories as to what happened. Confirming that Khashoggi was strangled on entering the Saudi embassy indicates that it was a premeditated murder requiring Saudi officials to deliver the 18 Saudi operatives participating in Khashoggi’s murder. Khashoggi has been eclipsed in the news cycle to Florida’s mail bomber and Oct. 28 massacre in Pittsburgh’s Tree of Life synagogue, killing 11, injuring seven. Fidan’s revelation about Khashoggi’s strangulation, dismemberment and disposal opens up a can of worms for 72-year-old President Donald Trump and European Union allies. No one can deny what happened to Khashoggi at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.
If King Salman and his son had no knowledge of the operation to murder Khashoggi, then why the different versions, coming out since the Oct. 2 disappearance? First, Khashoggi left the embassy and disappeared. Then, he got into a fistfight and died in the embassy. Now Fidan says, in fact, Khashoggi was strangled, dismembered and disposed of. If King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman came clean, they’d extradite the 18 identified Saudi operatives suspected of participating in Khashoggi’s death. Saudi officials can’t claim diplomatic immunity for a premeditated murder on Turkish soil. Turkish authorities have every right to demand extradition of anyone connected with Khashoggi’s disappearance and death. Paying a visit to Turkish intelligence agency in Istanbul, Saudi’s chief prosecutor, Saud al-Mojeb, knows Khashoggi was strangled Oct. 2.
Saudi Arabia has changed stories several times since Khashoggi’s Oct. 2 disappearance, giving the impression it’s lying to the public. If the Kingdom wants the Khashoggi story to go away, they need to come clean, extraditing the 18 operatives responsible for his Oct. 2 murder. Turkey has demanded that Khashoggi’s remains be returned to authorities for proper Islamic burial. If the body was dismembered with a bone saw as the press reports, it’s doubtful Turkish authorities will ever see the remains. Riyadh’s sincerity now can only come from the extradition of any operative at the Saudi consulate responsible for Khashoggi’s death. Fidan wants Khashoggi’s remains returned to Turkish authorities to complete the investigation. So far, Riyadh has refused to extradite any of the 18 Saudi operatives in the consulate at the time of Khashoggi’s premeditated murder.
Time has come for Saudi Arabia to come clean on what happened to Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi. If Riyadh claims neither King Salman nor his son Mohammed knew about the murder-plot, then it’s even more incumbent on the Saudi government to stipulate what happened Oct. 2. Because the murder took place on Turkish soil, despite inside the Saudi consulate, King Salman should honor Turksih President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s request to extradite all Saudi operatives in the consulate responsible for Khashoggi’s death. Since the crime happened in Turkey, King Salman should return all 18 Saudi operatives to face trial in Turkey. However critical Khashoggi was of the Saudi regime writing in the Washington Post, there’s no excuse for an extra-judicial assassination in Turkey. Only extraditing the 18 Saudis to Turkey can prove Saudi’s commitment to resolve the Khashoggi case.
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