World Rejects Saudi Narrative of Khashoggi Murder

Date: 21 October 2018 - 21:57

News ID: ۵۸۷۸۷

DUBAI (Dispatches) -- Saudi Arabia faced a growing chorus of incredulity on Sunday over its belated explanation of how critic Jamal Khashoggi died inside its Istanbul consulate, as world powers demanded answers and the whereabouts of his body.
After a fortnight of denials, Saudi authorities admitted on Saturday that the Washington Post columnist was killed after entering the consulate on Oct 2, a disappearance that sparked outrage and plunged the Persian Gulf kingdom into a spiraling international crisis.
Turkish officials have accused Riyadh of carrying out a state-sponsored killing and dismembering the body, with pro-government media in Turkey reporting the existence of video and audio evidence to back those claims.
Police have searched a forest in Istanbul where they believe his body may have been disposed of.
After initially saying Khashoggi left the consulate unharmed, and then that they were investigating his disappearance, Saudi authorities backtracked and admitted the 59-year-old was killed in a "brawl" with officials inside the consulate.
But that narrative - combined with the absence of Khashoggi's body - quickly drew skepticism and scorn from many, including staunch allies.
Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir said on Sunday Saudi Arabian officials do not know details of how Khashoggi was killed or where his body is.
He told Fox News in an interview that Khashoggi was approached by "Saudi security team” when he entered the consulate and their account of what happened after that differed from that of Turkish officials, which prompted the Saudis to investigate.
"He was killed in the consulate. We don’t know in terms of details how. We don’t know where the body is,” Jubeir said. "We are determined to uncover every stone. ... We are determined to punish those who are responsible for this murder.”
Jubeir was the first senior Saudi official to speak on the record since the Saudis admitted on Saturday that Khashoggi was dead.
The Saudis have laid out different versions of the circumstances that led to the death of Khashoggi, a Washington Post columnist and critic of Saudi Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman, who was not seen after entering the consulate on Oct. 2.
Jubeir called the killing of Khashoggi a terrible mistake. The journalist has relatives still living in Saudi Arabia and three children who hold U.S. citizenship.
Ankara vowed to reveal all the details of a two-week inquiry as United States President Donald Trump said he was unsatisfied with Saudi Arabia's response to the columnist's death while the European Union, Germany, France, Britain, Australia, Canada and the United Nations also demanded greater clarity.
The controversy has put the kingdom - for decades a key ally in Western efforts to contain Iran - under unprecedented pressure.
It has also evolved into a major crisis for bin Salman, a Trump administration favorite widely known as MBS, whose image as a modernizing Arab reformer has been gravely undermined.
Canada is among the latest countries to question Riyadh's version of events.
"The explanations offered to date lack consistency and credibility," Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland said in a statement on Saturday.
Senior Republican senator Marco Rubio was more stark in his assessment.
"Saudi Arabia's changing stories on #KhashoggiMurder is getting old. The latest one about a fist fight gone bad is bizarre," he tweeted, renewing his call for sanctions against those responsible.
Ankara said it had a "debt of honor" to reveal what happened.
"We are not accusing anyone in advance but we don't accept anything to remain covered up," said ruling Justice and Development Party spokesman Omer Celik.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said many questions remained unanswered while German Chancellor Angela Merkel urged transparency, adding that "available reports on what happened in the Istanbul consulate are insufficient".
"This cannot stand. This will not do," Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison added on Sunday.
EU top diplomat Federica Mogherini and UN chief Antonio Guterres both called for a proper investigation and for the perpetrators to be held to account.
Trump initially said he found the explanation credible, but later expressed more skepticism - although he warned against scrapping a multibillion-dollar arms deal with the conservative kingdom.
"No, I am not satisfied until we find the answer," he told reporters. "It was a big first step. It was a good first step. But I want to get to the answer."
Saudi Arabia's Persian Gulf ally, the United Arab Emirates, welcomed the Saudi disclosures, as did Egypt.
In the Saturday admission, Saudi Attorney-General Sheikh Saud al-Mojeb also announced a series of moves including against people linked to the crown prince, who Khashoggi had criticized in his writings.
He said 18 Saudis had been arrested and two top aides of Crown Prince Muhammad had been sacked, together with three other intelligence agents.
Saudi officials have roundly denied that the crown prince had any involvement in the affair.
But one suspect identified by Turkey was said to be a frequent companion of the young heir to the throne, three others were linked to his security detail and a fifth is a high-level forensic specialist, according to The New York Times.
Turkish authorities believe part of Khashoggi's body was transported out of Turkey by one of bin Salman's bodyguards, sources have told Middle East Eye.
Maher Abdulaziz Mutrib, an intelligence officer implicated in the killing of the Saudi journalist, is thought to have taken the body part out in a large bag, the sources said.
Mutrib, who is often seen travelling with the heir to the Saudi throne, left Istanbul on 2 October, the day of Khashoggi's death, on a private jet that departed at 18:20 local time.
His bags were not checked as he passed through the VIP lounge at Ataturk airport and neither was the plane, with tail registration HZ-SK1. This was because the plane left before the alarm was raised. A second plane was searched from top to bottom and nothing was found, according to the sources.
Mutrib, who carried a diplomatic passport, appeared to be in a hurry, they said.
Anonymous Saudi officials have told media that the body was rolled into a carpet and handed to a "local collaborator" to be disposed of.
However, on Sunday a Turkish source told MEE that Khashoggi's body was cut into 15 pieces. "They did not roll anything up in anything," the source said.
Mutrib's presence in the 15-man team sent by Riyadh to Istanbul to ambush Khashoggi in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul is increasingly under the spotlight as the kingdom attempts to insulate the crown prince from the scandal.