Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility
Police Search Saudi Consul's Home. Grisly Khashoggi Slaying Alleged.
GV-Wire-1
By gvwire
Published 6 years ago on
October 17, 2018

Share

ISTANBUL — Turkish crime-scene investigators entered the residence of the Saudi consul general in Istanbul on Wednesday to search for evidence in the disappearance of Saudi writer Jamal Khashoggi, just as a pro-government newspaper published a gruesome recounting of his alleged slaying.
Saudi Arabia’s green national flag flapped overhead as forensics teams walked into the residence, only a mile from the consulate where Khashoggi vanished Oct. 2 while trying to pick up paperwork to get married. It was the second-such extraordinary search of land considered under international law to be Saudi sovereign soil after Turkish police searched the consulate through the early morning Tuesday.

Turkish officials have described a grisly assassination and cover-up, with Saudi agents dismembering the body for disposal.
The new search put further pressure on Saudi Arabia to explain what happened to Khashoggi after a visit by U.S. Secretary Mike Pompeo to both the kingdom and Turkey. Flying back home, Pompeo remained positive about an ongoing Saudi probe into Khashoggi’s disappearance, but stressed answers need to come soon.
“Sooner’s betters than later for everyone,” Pompeo said.

Turkish Officials Describe Grisly Assassination

Turkish officials have described a grisly assassination and cover-up, with Saudi agents dismembering the body for disposal.
The Turkish authorities have released video footage of him walking into the consulate, but they say there is none of him walking out. The Saudis, while insisting that he left the consulate safely, have not offered any evidence. Khashoggi’s fiancée waited for him outside the consulate for hours.
Among the Saudi agents was a doctor who specialized in autopsies, and the group had brought a bone saw into the consulate, which it used to dismember Khashoggi, according to the Turkish officials.
But the Turks have not yet made public their findings, some of which may come from secret electronic surveillance.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey, a personal friend of Khashoggi’s, has repeatedly demanded an explanation from the Saudis but has not made specific accusations.
The residence search Wednesday came after a report by the newspaper Yeni Safak citing what it described as an audio recording of Khashoggi’s slaying. It described the 60-year-old Washington Post columnist as being tortured after entering the consulate.
The newspaper said Saudi Consul General Mohammed al-Otaibi could be heard on the tape, telling those allegedly torturing Khashoggi: “Do this outside; you’re going to get me in trouble.”
The newspaper said one of the Saudis torturing Khashoggi replied: “Shut up if you want to live when you return to (Saudi) Arabia.”
Security services in Turkey have used pro-government media to leak details of Khashoggi’s case, adding to the pressure on the kingdom.
Saudi officials have not responded to repeated requests for comment from The Associated Press in recent days. Al-Otaibi left Turkey on Tuesday afternoon, Turkish state media reported.

Pompeo: Saudis Will Share Investigation Findings

On Wednesday, Pompeo held separate meetings with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, each for about 40 minutes in Ankara, Turkey’s capital.
The three posed for photos, but said nothing together in front of reporters.
On a plane back home, Pompeo said Erdogan “made clear that the Saudis had cooperated with the investigation that the Turks are engaged in and they are going to share information.”
“If a country engages in activity that is unlawful it’s unacceptable,” Pompeo said. “No one is going to defend activity of that nature. We just need to simply say what happened.”
Pompeo met with Saudi King Salman and his son, the 33-year-old Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, on Tuesday. 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.
No major decisions are made outside of the ultraconservative kingdom’s ruling Al Saud family. Khashoggi had fled the country last year amid the rise of Prince Mohammed, whom he wrote critically about in the Post.

Saudis Could Use Oil as Weapon

On Tuesday, a high-level Turkish official told the AP that police found “certain evidence” of Khashoggi’s slaying at the consulate, without elaborating. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigation was ongoing.
President Donald Trump’s previous warnings over the case drew an angry response Sunday from Saudi Arabia and its state-linked media, including a suggestion that Riyadh could wield its oil production as a weapon. The U.S. president has been after King Salman and OPEC to boost production to drive down high oil prices, caused in part by the coming re-imposition of oil sanctions on Iran.
Prominent U.S. newspapers have reported, citing anonymous sources, that Saudi officials may soon acknowledge Khashoggi’s slaying at the consulate but blame it on a botched intelligence operation. That could, like Trump’s softening comments, seek to give the kingdom a way out of the global firestorm of criticism over Khashoggi’s fate.

DON'T MISS

Republicans Win 218 US House Seats, Giving Donald Trump and the Party Control of Government

DON'T MISS

Fresno State Alum Is New Dean of Health and Human Services College

DON'T MISS

Who Is Rep. Matt Gaetz, the Florida Congressman Donald Trump Picked to Serve as AG?

DON'T MISS

The Key Races to Watch: Nov. 13 Update

DON'T MISS

Feds Agree to Raise San Luis Reservoir: More Water for Farmers, Communities, Wetlands

DON'T MISS

Wired Wednesday: What Impact Does Deportation Have on the Central Valley?

DON'T MISS

How Will Election Winners Bredefeld and Chavez Fit in as Supervisors?

DON'T MISS

California Senate Leader Calls Union ‘Morally Bankrupt’ for Opposing a Vulnerable Democrat

DON'T MISS

R&B Concerts, Comedy, & Worship Take Center Stage This Weekend

DON'T MISS

Speaker Mike Johnson Wins GOP Nomination to Remain in Job, Faces Full House Vote in New Year

UP NEXT

Republican John Thune of South Dakota Is Elected the Next Senate Majority Leader

UP NEXT

Fresno County Man Accused of Filing Fake Disability Claims in $300K Fraud Scheme

UP NEXT

US Says It Will Not Limit Israel Arms Transfers After Some Improvements in Flow of Aid to Gaza

UP NEXT

Travel in the West Bank Is a Tale of Two Journeys

UP NEXT

Chris Wallace Is Leaving CNN, Eager to Explore New Media Landscape

UP NEXT

Aid Groups Say Israel Misses US Deadline to Boost Humanitarian Aid Entering Gaza

UP NEXT

US Regulators Investigating Whether Engines on 1.4 Million Hondas Might Fail

UP NEXT

Israeli Strikes Kill Dozens in Lebanon and Isolated Northern Gaza While Netanyahu and Trump Speak

UP NEXT

When to Catch the Last Supermoon of the Year

UP NEXT

Mattel Says It ‘Deeply’ Regrets Misprint on ‘Wicked’ Dolls Packaging That Links to Porn Site

The Key Races to Watch: Nov. 13 Update

9 hours ago

Feds Agree to Raise San Luis Reservoir: More Water for Farmers, Communities, Wetlands

9 hours ago

Wired Wednesday: What Impact Does Deportation Have on the Central Valley?

9 hours ago

How Will Election Winners Bredefeld and Chavez Fit in as Supervisors?

9 hours ago

California Senate Leader Calls Union ‘Morally Bankrupt’ for Opposing a Vulnerable Democrat

10 hours ago

R&B Concerts, Comedy, & Worship Take Center Stage This Weekend

10 hours ago

Speaker Mike Johnson Wins GOP Nomination to Remain in Job, Faces Full House Vote in New Year

10 hours ago

ICE Immediately Moves to Bolster Surveillance of Illegal Immigrants After Trump Win

11 hours ago

You Can Win a Lexus in This Fresno Telethon Drawing. Get Tickets Now.

11 hours ago

Trump Says He Will Nominate Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida to Be Attorney General

11 hours ago

Republicans Win 218 US House Seats, Giving Donald Trump and the Party Control of Government

WASHINGTON — Republicans have won enough seats to control the U.S. House, completing the party’s sweep into power and securing their hold on...

4 hours ago

4 hours ago

Republicans Win 218 US House Seats, Giving Donald Trump and the Party Control of Government

8 hours ago

Fresno State Alum Is New Dean of Health and Human Services College

Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., speaks at the Republican Party of Florida Freedom Summit, Nov. 4, 2023, in Kissimmee, Fla. (AP File)
8 hours ago

Who Is Rep. Matt Gaetz, the Florida Congressman Donald Trump Picked to Serve as AG?

9 hours ago

The Key Races to Watch: Nov. 13 Update

9 hours ago

Feds Agree to Raise San Luis Reservoir: More Water for Farmers, Communities, Wetlands

Wired Wednesday Cover, 11/13/24, KMPH Screengrab
9 hours ago

Wired Wednesday: What Impact Does Deportation Have on the Central Valley?

9 hours ago

How Will Election Winners Bredefeld and Chavez Fit in as Supervisors?

10 hours ago

California Senate Leader Calls Union ‘Morally Bankrupt’ for Opposing a Vulnerable Democrat

Search

Send this to a friend