Khashoggi remains may be in well as call by fiancée caused murder squad to panic
Claims are circulating that the body of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, who was killed at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on Oct. 2, could possibly have been dumped in the well at the residence of the Saudi consul-general.
Police say Khashoggi was killed and dismembered within two hours, and taken from the Saudi consulate in suitcases and plastic bags. His DNA was found in a Vito minibus that traveled from the consulate to the consul-general’s residence, a distance of 300 meters.
Investigators believe that there is a high chance Khashoggi’s remains are still in Istanbul. Allegations that the 15-man hit squad panicked once they found out that Khashoggi’s fiancée, Hatice Cengiz, was waiting for the Saudi journalist outside the consulate have surfaced.
A van left the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul Friday morning after consular staff moved three suitcases and a black plastic bag to the vehicle, according to an Anadolu Agency reporter on the scene outside the consulate. The suitcases and plastic bag were moved to a van with black-tinted windows from another vehicle while a man from inside the consulate carrying a coiled white cable also got in the van.The contents of the suitcases and plastic bag were unknown, as was the identity of the man.Video: Saudi van with 3 suitcases leaves Istanbul consulateThe consulate is under heightened scrutiny amid near-daily revelations about the case of slain Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi.Khashoggi, a columnist for The Washington Post, was last seen on Oct. 2 when he entered the consulate building.After days of denying any knowledge of his whereabouts, Saudi officials last week admitted that Khashoggi was killed in a "brawl" at the consulate.Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday laid out his country’s initial findings in its investigation, saying Khashoggi's “murder was premeditated."Washington Post starts Khashoggi truth ad campaignKhashoggi's son arrives in US after travel ban liftedRussia’s Putin, Saudi king discuss Khashoggi issueUS actress rejects funding for film from Saudi princeGermany's EconMin welcomes proposal for joint EU position toward Saudi
Saudi van with 3 suitcases leaves Istanbul consulate
A 15-man hit team, many of them Saudi intelligence operatives, flew into Istanbul hours before Khashoggi’s death and entered the consulate on Oct. 2 while the journalist was inside.
Khashoggi was a U.S. resident who wrote columns for the Washington Post and he was critical of the Saudi government, calling for reforms.
Khashoggi murdered, dismembered in two hours
Security sources believe once Khashoggi entered the Saudi consulate at 13:14 local time, there was a high level of activity inside and outside of the building. A black Vito with the number plate 34 CC 1865 neared the consulate gate at 15:08 local time, and camera footage shows suitcases and black plastic bags being loaded into the vehicle before it traveled to the consul-general’s residence.
The Washington Post began a new advertisement campaign Thursday aimed at applying pressure on Saudi Arabia's senior leadership to provide the true series of events behind Jamal Khashoggi's killing.The newspaper’s digital and print "Demand the Truth" effort for answers in the death of their columnist places the tagline below a portrait of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman, widely suspected of orchestrating the plot that led to Khashoggi's disappearance. Bin Salman has denied the charge."On Tuesday, October 2 Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi entered the Consulate of Saudi Arabia in Istanbul and was brutally murdered," the full-page advertisement reads as bin Salman looms large.It is accompanied by a brief 15-second video bearing the same content.Khashoggi was last seen that day when he entered the consulate.Russia’s Putin, Saudi king discuss Khashoggi issueAfter days of denying any knowledge of his whereabouts, Saudi officials last week said Khashoggi was killed in a "brawl" at the consulate. But no body has been produced and Riyadh has yet to explain its shifting explanations for Khashoggi's disappearance after initially claiming he left the diplomatic facility in Istanbul, and then claiming he might have been murdered by "rogue killers."Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Tuesday laid out his country’s initial findings in its investigation, saying Khashoggi's "murder was premeditated," a finding the Saudis appeared to inch closer to Thursday as the Kingdom's public prosecutor said evidence provided by Turkey indicated Khashoggi's killing was planned in advance.After initially striking a positive tone on Saudi Arabia's "brawl" explanation for Khashoggi's death, U.S. President Donald Trump has taken a markedly more pessimistic approach in recent days, claiming Saudi Arabia's explanation is the "worst coverup ever."Khashoggi's son arrives in US after travel ban lifted
Washington Post starts Khashoggi truth ad campaign
Murdered in the consul-general’s office
Once Khashoggi entered the consulate, he was allegedly invited to the Consul General Mohammad al-Otaibi’s office, where he was choked to death. His body was dragged to the conference room behind the consul general’s office. Khashoggi’s body was tehn allegedly divided into three pieces, and his head, chest and legs were put into a suitcase. Salah al-Tubaigy, a forensic doctor and reported autopsy expert, was the one who dismembered the body. He then proceeded to clean the conference room.
Khashoggi remains may be hidden in well
Turkish teams searched the consulate on Oct. 18, and the 12-meter-deep well is now being evaluated as the dumping site of Khashoggi’s body. Turkish security forces were not allowed to search the garden and well in Saudi Arabia’s consulate in Istanbul, however, water samples were taken.
The son of slain Washington Post columnist arrived in the U.S. after Saudi officials lifted his travel ban, according to the head of a prominent rights group.Sarah Leah Whitson, the director of Human Rights Watch's Middle East North Africa division, said Salah bin Jamal Khashoggi and his family have left Riyadh."Too bad Salah had to endure that cruel and bizarre greeting with MBS first," she said on Twitter, referring to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman, the person widely suspected of orchestrating the death of Jamal Khashoggi. Bin Salman has denied involvement.US actress rejects funding for film from Saudi princeSalah bin Jamal Khashoggi was photographed Wednesday stoically shaking bin Salman's hand, as well as shaking hands with Saudi King Salman, during a photo opportunity. The eldest son of Jamal Khashoggi was the subject of a Saudi travel ban since last year intended to lure his father back to Saudi Arabia, according to reports.The senior Khashoggi was last seen Oct. 2 entering the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul.After days of denying any knowledge of his whereabouts, Saudi officials last week said Khashoggi was killed in a "brawl" at the consulate. His body has not been produced and Riyadh has yet to explain its shifting explanations for Khashoggi's disappearance after initially claiming he left the diplomatic facility in Istanbul, and that he might have been murdered by "rogue killers."Russia’s Putin, Saudi king discuss Khashoggi issueTurkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday laid out his country’s initial findings in its investigation, saying Khashoggi's "murder was premeditated," a finding the Saudis appeared to inch closer to Thursday as the Kingdom's public prosecutor said evidence provided by Turkey indicated Khashoggi's killing was planned in advance.While he initially struck a positive tone on Saudi Arabia's "brawl" explanation for Khashoggi's death, U.S. President Donald Trump has taken a markedly more pessimistic approach in recent days, claiming Saudi Arabia's explanation is the "worst coverup ever."CIA Director Gina Haspel is expected to brief Trump later Thursday after returning from Turkey where she reviewed evidence in Khashoggi's case.Germany's EconMin welcomes proposal for joint EU position toward Saudi
Khashoggi's son arrives in US after travel ban lifted
Hatice Cengiz foiled Saudi plan
Noting that the remains could be protected by waterproof chemicals, the prosecution office demanded that the water in the well be emptied and the bottom searched. It is believed that the presence of Hatice Cengiz foiled the plot to bury the body in Istanbul’s Belgrad Forest when she called the consulate security demanding to know the whereabouts of Jamal.
Cengiz called the consulate at 17:30 local time and said that her fiancée had entered but not reemerged. When asked where she was, Cengiz told the consulate worker that she was outside. A Saudi official then emerged and told her all rooms had been searched but Khashoggi was not inside. Following this, the 15-member Saudi squad that had made reservations for five days at two hotels returned to Riyadh.
Within the scope of the investigation, the police searched 26 different vehicles as well as the consul-general’s residence. Following a tipoff, police found a diplomatic vehicle belonging to the Saudi consulate in a carpark in Istanbul’s Sultangazi district. A laptop and documents were found in the vehicle which was not on the original search list.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz held a phone talk on Thursday evening, a statement by the Kremlin said.The two leaders discussed the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul and the situation in Syria, the statement said.The talk was initiated by the Saudi side, it added.Khashoggi, a Saudi journalist and columnist for The Washington Post, had gone missing since entering the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul on Oct. 2.After days of denying any knowledge of his whereabouts, Saudi officials last week admitted that Khashoggi was killed in a "brawl" at the consulate.During their conversation, the Saudi king also invited Putin to visit his country, the statement said.Turkey takes statements of 38 Saudi Consulate employeesTurkey only allowed to take water sample from well at Saudi consulateSaudi crown prince presides over committee to restructure intel agencySaudi Arabia says Khashoggi murder premeditated
Russia’s Putin, Saudi king discuss Khashoggi issue
On the day of the murder, it was found that the security cameras Saudi authorities had claimed were not working were actually switched off one hour before the murder time. The audio recording of the last minutes of Khashoggi’s life is allegedly the hands of Turkey’s national intelligence organization, MİT.
Khashoggi body double spotted out and about in Istanbul
As part of the probe launched by the Chief Public Prosecutors' Office in Istanbul, a special security team went through 3,500 hour-long footages from a total of 137 surveillance cameras at 72 points.
Moustafa al-Madani, who led the intelligence efforts of the 15-man team in Istanbul, entered the consulate building by the front door four hours earlier together with Saudi's forensic medicine chief Salah al-Tubaiqi. Following the murder, Madani 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 the journalist had walked out of the building, although he was wearing different shoes to the ones Khashoggi entered the consulate with. He is seen in Khashoggi's clothing near the city's Blue Mosque in the Sultanahmet district hours after the journalist was seen entering the consulate building.
Madani is a government employee who studied at King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals in Saudi Arabia’s Eastern Province, according to a Facebook profile with photographs resembling the suspect identified by Turkish media.
Actress Scarlett Johansonn has reportedly rejected funding from Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman for an upcoming film.The actress was supposed to star in a movie about Pulitzer prize-winning photojournalist Lynsey Addario, which was going to be directed by Ridley Scott.In an interview with the New York Times, Addario said Johanson's call to reject funding was made before the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi.Saudi officials last week said Khashoggi, a columnist for The Washington Post, was killed in a fist-fight at its consulate in Istanbul.Germany's EconMin welcomes proposal for joint EU position toward Saudi“Scarlett Johansson said absolutely not,” Addario told the New York Times on Wednesday. “She said: ‘This guy is perpetuating the war in Yemen. He has women in prison.’”The photojournalist noted the reason bin Salman wanted to be a part of the film was a part of a larger "charm campaign" which would make the West believe the crown prince was interested in American culture.Bin Salman went to Hollywood in April, and met with movie stars and studio executives, including actor Dwayne Johnson and Oprah Winfrey."A pleasure to have a private dinner with the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, Mohammed bin Salman," Johnson said in an Instagram post after meeting bin Salman.Johanson has previously come under fire for quitting the charitable organization Oxfam because of her rejection of the Boycott, Sanctions, and Divestments movement.
US actress rejects funding for film from Saudi prince
German Economy Minister Peter Altmaier said he welcomed Austria's proposal for a joint European position on arm exports to Saudi Arabia, he told German broadcaster Deutschlandfunk (DLF) on Friday.Germany's government has agreed to not deliver weapons to the country at the moment, he said in an interview during a visit to Turkey, adding that the effect of that decision would be stronger if European countries adopted a common position.Saudi Arabia's public prosecutor said on Thursday the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in the kingdom's Istanbul consulate this month was premeditated, reversing previous official statements that the killing was unintended.Business with Turkey must remain possible Germany has an interest in Turkey not becoming unstable, Altmaier told German broadcaster Deutschlandfunk (DLF) during a trip to Turkey, on which he was accompanied by a delegation of German business representatives."I have defended the interests of German companies here that say: 'We feel insecure in our activities in Turkey'," he added.Turkey takes statements of 38 Saudi Consulate employeesTurkey only allowed to take water sample from well at Saudi consulateSaudi crown prince presides over committee to restructure intel agencySaudi Arabia says Khashoggi murder premeditated
Germany's EconMin welcomes proposal for joint EU position toward Saudi