New York Times:
Recording Suggests MBS Role in Khashoggi Murder
NEW YORK (Dispatches) -- An audio recording of journalist Jamal Khashoggi's murder strongly suggests that Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman was involved, the New York Times has reported.
Citing people familiar with the audio recording, the U.S. newspaper said a member of the crown prince's security detail, Maher Abdulaziz Mutreb, who was part of the 15-member hit team sent to Turkey to kill Khashoggi, told an aide of the crown prince to "tell your boss" after Khashoggi's murder.
While bin Salman, commonly known as MBS, was not mentioned by name, American intelligence officials believe "your boss” was a reference to the crown prince, the Times reported.
A former CIA officer also told the newspaper the comment strongly incriminates MBS.
"A phone call like that is about as close to a smoking gun as you are going to get,” Bruce Riedel, who now works at the Brookings Institution, told the paper. "It is pretty incriminating evidence,” he added.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan confirmed on Saturday the existence of an audio recording of Jamal Khashoggi's death and said he had shared it with the United States, Saudi Arabia, Germany, France and the UK.
On Tuesday, Erdogan said a Saudi intelligence officer was shocked when played audio of Khashoggi’s murder, a recording he described as "appalling”.
The Saudi officer, Erdogan said, posited the theory that whoever was responsible "must have taken heroin”.
Speaking to the Turkish media on his return from France, the president was adding yet more public pressure on Riyadh over the assassination of Khashoggi in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.
"The recordings are really appalling. Indeed when the Saudi intelligence officer listened to the recordings he was so shocked he said: 'This one must have taken heroin, only someone who takes heroin would do this'," Erdogan said.
Turkish newspaper Sabah, which is close to the government, published X-ray images purportedly of some luggage that Saudis suspected of killing Khashoggi carried as they left Istanbul.
In them, Sabah reports, were several highly suspicious and incriminating items, bolstering the theory that Khashoggi was dismembered and the victim of a premeditated murder.
The bags reportedly contained 10 phones, five walkie-talkies, intercoms, two syringes, two defibrillators, a jamming device, staplers, and scissors.
According to Sabah, the bags were loaded onto two planes that left Istanbul for Riyadh soon after Khashoggi’s death, the first at 15:20 GMT and 19:46 GMT.
"Three large staplers could be brought in order to prevent leakage from the bags after the body was cut up and broken down by the execution team,” Sabah said.
Turkish sources previously said Khashoggi’s body was swiftly cut into 15 pieces. Turkish officials now believe that his remains were dissolved in acid and poured down the consulate’s drain.
Under pressure, Saudi Arabia has moved from claiming Khashoggi left its consulate untouched, to acknowledging he died, to admitting he was murdered by a death squad sent to kill him.
Riyadh has arrested 18 people over the murder, including 15 members of the death squad.
Saudi Arabia has also removed several officials it says are responsible for the murder, including two of bin Salman’s closest allies, deputy intelligence chief Ahmad al-Assiri and top aide Saud al-Qahtani.
The Saudi crown prince is a close ally of U.S. President Donald Trump, and on Tuesday National Security Advisor John Bolton attempted to contradict the NYT’s intelligence sources’ claims.
When asked if the audio links Khashoggi’s murder to the crown prince, Bolton said: "That’s not the conclusion I think that the people who heard it have come to, and that’s certainly not the position of the Saudi government.”
"The president has made it clear he wants to get to the bottom of this,” he added.
Erdogan has said that the "highest levels” of the Saudi government are responsible for the crime and must be held to account.
In particular, the Saudi crown prince is close to Jared Kushner, the president's son-in-law and adviser on Middle East issues, and he even bragged earlier this year that Kushner was "in his pocket," The Intercept first reported.
The U.S. has also been under pressure to stop supporting the Saudi war in Yemen in the aftermath of Khashoggi's killing.
U.S. State Department officials and key members of the Trump administration have so far resisted calls to take any decisive action, however, saying they are waiting for the results of a Saudi investigation into what happened to Khashoggi before making any decisions.
Citing people familiar with the audio recording, the U.S. newspaper said a member of the crown prince's security detail, Maher Abdulaziz Mutreb, who was part of the 15-member hit team sent to Turkey to kill Khashoggi, told an aide of the crown prince to "tell your boss" after Khashoggi's murder.
While bin Salman, commonly known as MBS, was not mentioned by name, American intelligence officials believe "your boss” was a reference to the crown prince, the Times reported.
A former CIA officer also told the newspaper the comment strongly incriminates MBS.
"A phone call like that is about as close to a smoking gun as you are going to get,” Bruce Riedel, who now works at the Brookings Institution, told the paper. "It is pretty incriminating evidence,” he added.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan confirmed on Saturday the existence of an audio recording of Jamal Khashoggi's death and said he had shared it with the United States, Saudi Arabia, Germany, France and the UK.
On Tuesday, Erdogan said a Saudi intelligence officer was shocked when played audio of Khashoggi’s murder, a recording he described as "appalling”.
The Saudi officer, Erdogan said, posited the theory that whoever was responsible "must have taken heroin”.
Speaking to the Turkish media on his return from France, the president was adding yet more public pressure on Riyadh over the assassination of Khashoggi in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.
"The recordings are really appalling. Indeed when the Saudi intelligence officer listened to the recordings he was so shocked he said: 'This one must have taken heroin, only someone who takes heroin would do this'," Erdogan said.
Turkish newspaper Sabah, which is close to the government, published X-ray images purportedly of some luggage that Saudis suspected of killing Khashoggi carried as they left Istanbul.
In them, Sabah reports, were several highly suspicious and incriminating items, bolstering the theory that Khashoggi was dismembered and the victim of a premeditated murder.
The bags reportedly contained 10 phones, five walkie-talkies, intercoms, two syringes, two defibrillators, a jamming device, staplers, and scissors.
According to Sabah, the bags were loaded onto two planes that left Istanbul for Riyadh soon after Khashoggi’s death, the first at 15:20 GMT and 19:46 GMT.
"Three large staplers could be brought in order to prevent leakage from the bags after the body was cut up and broken down by the execution team,” Sabah said.
Turkish sources previously said Khashoggi’s body was swiftly cut into 15 pieces. Turkish officials now believe that his remains were dissolved in acid and poured down the consulate’s drain.
Under pressure, Saudi Arabia has moved from claiming Khashoggi left its consulate untouched, to acknowledging he died, to admitting he was murdered by a death squad sent to kill him.
Riyadh has arrested 18 people over the murder, including 15 members of the death squad.
Saudi Arabia has also removed several officials it says are responsible for the murder, including two of bin Salman’s closest allies, deputy intelligence chief Ahmad al-Assiri and top aide Saud al-Qahtani.
The Saudi crown prince is a close ally of U.S. President Donald Trump, and on Tuesday National Security Advisor John Bolton attempted to contradict the NYT’s intelligence sources’ claims.
When asked if the audio links Khashoggi’s murder to the crown prince, Bolton said: "That’s not the conclusion I think that the people who heard it have come to, and that’s certainly not the position of the Saudi government.”
"The president has made it clear he wants to get to the bottom of this,” he added.
Erdogan has said that the "highest levels” of the Saudi government are responsible for the crime and must be held to account.
In particular, the Saudi crown prince is close to Jared Kushner, the president's son-in-law and adviser on Middle East issues, and he even bragged earlier this year that Kushner was "in his pocket," The Intercept first reported.
The U.S. has also been under pressure to stop supporting the Saudi war in Yemen in the aftermath of Khashoggi's killing.
U.S. State Department officials and key members of the Trump administration have so far resisted calls to take any decisive action, however, saying they are waiting for the results of a Saudi investigation into what happened to Khashoggi before making any decisions.