SAUDI ARABIA

Chokehold caused death

Saudi source lays out details leading up to Khashoggi’s death

October 21, 2018
A member of security staff is seen next to the barriers at the gate of Saudi Arabia's consulate in Istanbul, Turkey, on Sunday. — Reuters
A member of security staff is seen next to the barriers at the gate of Saudi Arabia's consulate in Istanbul, Turkey, on Sunday. — Reuters

Riyadh — A senior Saudi government official speaking to Reuters news agency laid out details of the death of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi inside the Saudi consulate.

The latest account, provided by a Saudi official who requested anonymity, includes details on how the team of 15 Saudi nationals had killed him in a chokehold when he resisted.

The Saudi official said the body was rolled up in a rug and given to a “local cooperator” for disposal.

He also showed testimony from those involved in what he described as the 15-man team’s cover-up, and the initial results of an internal probe.

Asked by Reuters why the government’s version of Khashoggi’s death kept changing, the official said the government’s initial account was based on “false information reported internally at the time.”

“Once it became clear these initial mission reports were false, it launched an internal investigation and refrained from further public comment,” the official said, adding that the investigation is continuing.

According to the latest version of the death, the government wanted to convince Khashoggi, who moved to Washington a year ago, to return to the Kingdom as part of a campaign to prevent Saudi dissidents from being recruited by the country’s enemies, the official said.

To that end, the official said, an official in authority put together a 15-member team from the intelligence and security forces to go to Istanbul, meet Khashoggi at the consulate and try to convince him to return to Saudi Arabia.

“There is a standing order to negotiate the return of dissidents peacefully; which gives them the authority to act without going back to the leadership,” the official said.

According to the plan, the team could hold Khashoggi in a safe house outside Istanbul for “a period of time” but then release him if he ultimately refused to return to Saudi Arabia, the official said. Things went wrong from the start as the team overstepped their orders and quickly employed violence, the official said.

Khashoggi was ushered into the consul general’s office where an operative spoke to him about returning to Saudi Arabia, according to the government’s account.

Khashoggi refused and told the operative that someone was waiting outside for him and would contact the Turkish authorities if he did not reappear within an hour, the official said.

Khashoggi’s so-called fiancée Hatice Cengiz has told Reuters he had handed her his two mobile phones and left instructions that she should wait for him and call an aide to Turkey’s president if he did not reappear.

Back inside the consul’s office, according to the official’s account, Khashoggi told the operative he was violating diplomatic norms and said, “What are you going to do with me? Do you intend to kidnap me?”

The operative replied, “Yes, we will drug you and kidnap you,” in what the official said was an attempt at intimidation that violated the mission’s objective.

When Khashoggi raised his voice, the team panicked. They moved to restrain him, placing him in a chokehold and covering his mouth, according to the government’s account.

“They tried to prevent him from shouting but he died,” the official said. “The intention was not to kill him.”

Asked if the team had smothered Khashoggi, the official said: “If you put someone of Jamal’s age in this position, he would probably die.”

To cover up their misdeed, the team rolled up Khashoggi’s body in a rug, took it out in a consular vehicle and handed it over to a “local cooperator” for disposal, the official said.

A forensic expert tried to remove any trace of the incident, the official said.

The Saudi official said the local cooperator is an Istanbul resident but would not reveal his nationality. The official said investigators were trying to determine where the body ended up.

Meanwhile, the operative donned Khashoggi’s clothes, eyeglasses and Apple watch and left through the back door of the consulate in an attempt to make it look like Khashoggi had walked out of the building. The operative went to the Sultanahmet district where he disposed of the belongings.

The official said the team then wrote a false report for superiors saying they had allowed Khashoggi to leave once he warned that Turkish authorities could get involved and that they had promptly left the country before they could be discovered.

The official said all 15 team members had been detained and placed under investigation, along with three other local suspects. — Agencies


October 21, 2018
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