![]() Later details from Turkish sources said that al Qahtani had closely monitored the murder through Skype and gave instructions to the team in the consulate. The spokesperson also announced that two senior officials, Major General Ahmad al Assiri, deputy head of intelligence, and Saud al Qahtani, member of the royal court, had been dismissed, while 18 persons connected with the murder had been arrested.Īl Qahtani was accused of contributing “to an aggressive environment that allowed it to escalate”. It is not known what Prince Khalid, from the most urbane and sophisticated branch of the Saudi royal family, is thinking now about the systematic dismemberment of his protégé who had first found his liberal voice in the columns of Al Watan 15 years ago.įrom October 15 onwards, the “rogue elements thesis” began to gain ground – first tentatively from a Turkish official, then from President Donald Trump in Washington – providing a way out for the beleaguered kingdom and its crown prince even names were mentioned of those who would be scapegoated.Īs anticipated, in the late night of Friday, October 19, the kingdom broke its silence: it accepted that Khashoggi was dead, that he had died in the consulate, and that his death had been accidental – the discussion between the journalist and his “persuasive” interlocutors had got heated, which ended with one of the persuaders killing Khashoggi in a strangle-hold. Prince Khalid Al Faisal, senior royal family member and owner of the paper Al Watan, of which Khashoggi had been editor twice, was then sent to meet President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on October 11 and report to the king the latter, in his first public remarks, denied all knowledge but promised a detailed enquiry. Then, as world attention intensified, there was a flurry of activity: a security team was hurriedly sent to Istanbul to ‘assist’ the Turkish authorities with their enquiries. (Later reports showed the Saudis using a fake double impersonating Khashoggi exiting the consulate, but this carried no conviction since he made no contact with his fiancée.)Īlso read: ‘A Vicious Murder’: Turkish President Erdogan’s Remarks on Khashoggi First, there was the bland denial – it was said that Khashoggi had left the consulate, though there was no sign of his exiting the premises while outside the consulate his fiancée was desperately awaiting his return. The murder took place just three weeks before Saudi Arabia’s most prestigious event – the Future Investment Initiative conference, the “Davos in the Desert” – at which the world’s top politicians and corporate leaders would assemble to show solidarity with the kingdom’s grandiose vision for modernisation and reform and with the larger-than-life crown prince who presided over these plans of transformation and hope, and affirm themselves as full partners in realising these fabulous dreams.Ībove all, the Saudis have no cover story, no plausible explanation to protect their dark prince and distance him from this dark deed. Surely, most diplomatic premises are under surveillance by the host country’s intelligence services – the Turks have said they have recordings of the visit and have been leaking them into the public domain in enticing driblets, making the murder a public event, and us as voyeurs of this ghastly deed. ![]() They committed the murder in their country’s consulate: their victim Jamal Khashoggi was seen entering the premises for routine consular services against a prior appointment but not exiting. He listened to music as he went about his professional duties and asked his colleagues to do the same – nothing like music to lighten the tedium of murder. This team, apparently sent to ‘persuade’ their misguided citizen to return home, curiously enough, included Saudi Arabia’s senior-most forensic doctor, an expert at autopsy and dismemberment, equipped naturally with the main tool of his trade – a bone saw. They travelled with their own passports and so could be quickly identified as security and military personnel close to the crown prince, having travelled with him earlier, with pictures to prove their proximity to him. The 15 murderers travelled from Riyadh to Istanbul in two private aircraft, landing on the day of the murder and leaving soon thereafter. The Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, and his minions have shown such remarkable incompetence and ineptitude in executing the gruesome murder of Jamal Khashoggi on October 2 that in comparison, the Keystone Kops of the silent era look efficient and far-sighted. ![]() It would have been comic if it was not so tragic. Note: This article was originally published on Octoand is being republished on February 27, 2021, in light of the US intelligence report finding the Saudi crown prince responsible for the journalist’s murder.
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