Frühere Berichte / Earlier reporting: Yemen War Mosaic 466, cp8
https://www.freitag.de/autoren/dklose/jemenkrieg-mosaik-466-yemen-war-mosaic-466
Das mit dem Verschwinden von Jamal Khashoggi in Zusammenhang stehende Material war als Teil meines "Jemen-Kriegsmosaiks" gesammelt worden, aber es wurde bald zu umfangreich, so dass es eine eigene Presseschau erforderte.
Das Verschwinden und die mutmaßliche Ermordung von Jamal Khashoggi im saudischen Konsulat in Istanbul ist noch schlimmer als jeder erfundene Krimi: Ein saudischer Dissident, der einen Termin im Konsulat hat, um ein Papier einzusammeln, das er für seine Heirat benötigte, betrat das Gebäude und kam nie wieder heraus. Am selben Tag hatte Saudi-Arabien ein (Killer)-Kommando von 15 Mann nach Istanbul geflogen, das wahrscheinlich Khashoggi im Konsulat tötete, ihn zerstückelte und die Einzelteile seines Körpers mit Diplomatengepäck aus dem Konsulat brachte. Die Ermittlungen sind noch nicht abgeschlossen.
The material related to the Khashoggi disappearence had been collected as a part of my „Yemen War Mosaic“, but evidently it became too extensive, thus it required a press review of its own.
The disappearance and probable murder of Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi consulate at Istanbul is a plot even worse than any fictional crime thriller could have invented it: Saudi dissident journalist, having an appointment at the consulate to pick up a paper he needed for his marriage, entered the building and never came out again. The same day, Saudi Arabia had flown in a 15 men (hit) squad to Istanbul, who probably killed Khashoggi at the consulate, dismembered him and brought the single parts of his body out of the consulate, using pieces of diplomat luggage. Investigations are still ongoing.
Schwerpunkte / Key aspects
Klassifizierung / Classification
cp01 Alle Berichte auf Deutsch
cp02 The Khashoggi criminal case: Reports in English
cp03 Reaktionen in den USA / Reactions in the US
cp04 Internationale Reaktionen / International reactions
cp05 Lange Geschichte von saudischen Entführungen / Long history if Saudi abducations
cp06 Propaganda
cp07 Rückblick auf Khashoggi / Looking back to Khashoggi
Klassifizierung / Classification
***
**
*
(Kein Stern / No star)
? = Keine Einschatzung / No rating
A = Aktuell / Current news
B = Hintergrund / Background
P = Politik / Politics
cp01 Alle Berichte auf Deutsch
(* A P)
Verschwinden von Khashoggi: Trump stellt Forderung an Saudi-Arabien
Die Beziehungen zwischen Washington und Riad prosperieren, seitdem US-Präsident Trump an der Macht ist. Doch nun gibt es einen Riss in dem guten Verhältnis. Der saudische Journalist Khashoggi verschwindet. Trump will wissen, "was hier vor sich geht".
US-Präsident Donald Trump macht nach dem mysteriösen Verschwinden des saudischen Journalisten Jamal Khashoggi Druck auf die Regierung in Riad. "Es ist eine sehr traurige Situation, es ist eine sehr schlimme Situation", sagte Trump im Weißen Haus. "Wir dürfen nicht zulassen, dass so etwas passiert, nicht mit einem Reporter, nicht mit irgendjemandem."
Der US-Präsident forderte Aufklärung von Riad: Er habe "auf höchster Ebene" mit Vertretern Saudi-Arabiens gesprochen. Er wolle Informationen von der Regierung sehen - "und wir wollen sehen, was hier vor sich geht." Washington sei "sehr enttäuscht" und werde der Sache "auf den Grund gehen".
https://www.n-tv.de/politik/Trump-stellt-Forderung-an-Saudi-Arabien-article20665147.html
(* A P)
Vermisster Khashoggi: US-Senatoren zwingen Trump zum Handeln
Im Fall des verschwundenen saudi-arabischen Journalisten Khashoggi machen US-Senatoren jetzt Druck: Sie forden von US-Präsident Trump Untersuchungen, ob es zu Verstößen gegen Menschenrechte gekommen ist.
22 US-Senatoren haben Ermittlungen im Fall des verschwundenen saudi-arabischen Journalisten Jamal Khashoggi auf den Weg gebracht. Die Senatoren beriefen sich dabei auf ein Gesetz, wonach US-Präsident Donald Trump untersuchen muss, ob es zu groben Verstößen gegen die Menschenrechte durch einen Ausländer gekommen ist. "Unsere Erwartung ist, dass Sie dabei alle relevanten Informationen in Betracht ziehen, einschließlich derer in Bezug auf die hochrangigsten Vertreter der Regierung Saudi-Arabiens", heißt es in einem Brief, der von Senatoren beider Parteien unterzeichnet wurde.
Sanktionen wegen Menschenrechts-Verletzungen?
Dem Gesetz nach muss binnen 120 Tagen eine Entscheidung vorliegen, ob Sanktionen wegen ernsthafter Verletzungen der Menschenrechte verhängt werden - wie Folter, unverhältnismäßig lange Inhaftierung ohne Gerichtsverfahren oder die Tötung von Menschen, die ihr Recht auf Meinungsfreiheit in Anspruch genommen haben. Das Verschwinden Khashoggis lasse darauf schließen, dass er Opfer einer groben Verletzung der international anerkannten Menschenrechte geworden sei, heißt es in dem Brief.
https://www.tagesschau.de/ausland/khashoggi-125.html
(A P)
Laut AI müsse die Internationale Gemeinschaft Saudi-Arabien unter Druck setzen, damit es Klarheit in die verdächtigten Causa des saudischen Journalisten und Regimekritikers bringt.
"Wir fordern eine unabhängige Untersuchung über den Tod von Jamal Khashoggi und möchten, dass die Täter dieses Verbrechens ungeachtet ihrer Position der Justiz vorgeführt werden", sagte Lynn Maalouf, die Rechercheleiterin von Amnesty International für den Nahen Osten Al-Jazeera zufolge am gestrigen Sonntag.
(* A P)
USA: Trump verlangt Auskunft von Riad über Khashoggi
US-Präsident Donald Trump hat von Saudi-Arabien Auskunft über das Schicksal des in der Türkei verschwundenen Journalisten Jamal Khashoggi verlangt. Er habe "auf höchster Ebene" mit Vertretern Saudi-Arabiens über Khashoggi gesprochen, sagte Trump nach Information von Deutsche Tageszeitung, in einem aktuellen Interview. "Wir wollen alles wissen", fügte er hinzu. Die US-Regierung könne "nicht zulassen", dass so etwas "einem Reporter" oder "irgendjemandem" passiere. Washington sei "sehr enttäuscht" und werde der Sache "auf den Grund gehen".
Trumps Sprecherin Sarah Sanders sagte, Trumps Sicherheitsberater John Bolton, Außenminister Mike Pompeo und Trumps Schwiegersohn und Berater Jared Kushner hätten in den vergangenen zwei Tagen mit dem saudiarabischen Kronprinzen Mohammed bin Salman über den Fall gesprochen. Sie hätten um "weitere Einzelheiten" zu dem Fall gesprochen und eine "transparente" Untersuchung angemahnt.
(* A P)
Hinweise auf Pläne gegen Journalisten Khashoggi – Trump warnt Riad
Der Fall des verschwundenen Journalisten Jamal Khashoggi belastet das Verhältnis zwischen den USA und Saudi-Arabien.
Die USA sollen einem Medienbericht zufolge Hinweise auf eine anstehende Verschleppung des regierungskritischen saudiarabischen Journalisten Jamal Khashoggi gehabt haben. Die US-Zeitung „Washington Post“ berichtete am Mittwoch unter Berufung auf US-Regierungsvertreter, saudi-arabische Offizielle seien von den US-Geheimdiensten dabei abgehört worden, wie sie Pläne besprochen hätten, Khashoggi aus dem US-Bundesstaat Virginia wegzulocken und festzusetzen. Demnach soll Kronprinz Mohammed Bin Salman die Operation angeordnet haben.
Die „Washington Post“ berichtete zudem unter Berufung auf Freunde Khashoggis, ranghohe saudi-arabische Vertreter hätten dem Journalisten Schutz oder sogar einen wichtigen Regierungsposten angeboten, sollte er in seine Heimat zurückkehren. Der im US-Exil lebende Khashoggi, der unter anderem für die „Washington Post“ schrieb, sei aber misstrauisch gewesen.
Ein Sprecher des US-Außenministeriums bestritt, dass die Regierung Hinweise auf eine konkrete Bedrohung für Khashoggi gehabt habe.
US-Präsident Donald Trump macht unterdessen Druck auf die Regierung in Riad. „Es ist eine sehr traurige Situation, es ist eine sehr schlimme Situation“, sagte Trump am Mittwoch im Weißen Haus. „Wir dürfen nicht zulassen, dass so etwas passiert, nicht mit einem Reporter, nicht mit irgendjemandem.“ Der US-Präsident forderte Aufklärung von Riad: Er wolle Informationen von der saudischen Regierung sehen – „und wir wollen sehen, was hier vor sich geht.“
Der Fall des Journalisten stellt eine Belastungsprobe für die Beziehungen zwischen den USA und Saudi-Arabien dar.
(A P)
Mord im saudischen Konsulat?
"Berlin muss Fall Khashoggi ansprechen"
Der Fall Khashoggi wirft viele Fragen auf. Saudi-Arabien-Experte Sons bezweifelt, dass der regierungskritische Journalist getötet worden ist. Er sagt, die Bundesregierung solle jetzt ihre Kontakte nutzen. Seit Montag sitzt in Berlin schließlich wieder ein Botschafter.
n-tv.de: Einer der prominentesten Kritiker des Kronprinzen wird mutmaßlich im saudischen Konsulat in Istanbul ermordet. Ist das unglaublich stümperhafte Geheimdienstarbeit oder will Riad ein Zeichen setzen?
Sebastian Sons: Grundsätzlich ist die saudische Führung derzeit bemüht, kritische Stimmen einzuschüchtern. Kronprinz Mohammed bin Salman fordert die alleinige Deutungshoheit für sich ein. Allerdings ist die saudische Diaspora nicht sonderlich organisiert und schlagkräftig. Ich glaube nicht, dass die Meinungen von Exilanten ein entscheidendes Kriterium für ihn sind. Ich bin außerdem noch skeptisch, ob Jamal Khashoggi tatsächlich ermordet worden ist. Der Schritt wäre strategisch unklug. Sicherlich erfordert sein Verschwinden eine Aufklärung von türkischer sowie saudischer Seite.
https://www.n-tv.de/politik/Berlin-muss-Fall-Khashoggi-ansprechen-article20665545.html
(* A P)
Drohende diplomatische Eskalation
Sollte der Journalist Jamal Khashoggi gekidnappt oder gar ermordet worden sein, wäre dies eine gefährliche Eskalation im Feldzug der saudischen Regierung gegen ihre Kritiker. Der Westen sollte ähnlich entschieden reagieren wie gegenüber Moskau nach den Geschehnissen in Salisbury, fordert Guido Steinberg.
In einem Beitrag für die Washington Post vom 18. September 2017 schrieb er, dass er nicht in Opposition zur saudischen Regierung stehe und dass er wünsche, dass ihr "Vision 2030" genanntes Reformprogramm für die Wirtschaft Früchte trage.
Doch beklagte er auch, dass sein Heimatland nie so repressiv gegenüber Intellektuellen und Religionsgelehrten gewesen sei wie in den vorangegangenen Monaten, also in der Zeit, in der Mohammed Bin Salman seine Alleinherrschaft rücksichtslos ausbaute.
Jeder ist in Gefahr, der die Regierung kritisiert
Khashoggi reagierte mit diesem Meinungsartikel auf eine Verhaftungswelle, die einsetzte, nachdem die saudische und die emiratische Führung am 5. Juni 2017 ein Embargo gegen das Emirat Qatar verhängt hatten. Das prominenteste Opfer war der weit über Saudi-Arabien hinaus bekannte Gelehrte Salman al-Auda
Wahrscheinlich sieht die neue Führung in Riad in ihm [Khashoggi] auch ein mögliches Bindeglied zwischen den Islamisten und Gegnern des Kronprinzen in der Herrscherfamilie. Denn Khashoggi wurde in der Vergangenheit von führenden Prinzen der Familie Saud protegiert, zuletzt von dem Unternehmer Walid Bin Talal, mit dem er noch 2016 plante, einen Fernsehsender aufzubauen. Dieser wurde aber zu einem der prominentesten Opfer der Anti-Korruptionskampagne des saudischen Kronprinzen.
Seit der Entmachtung vieler ehemals führender Prinzen dürften diese eine Rechnung mit dem Kronprinzen offen haben. Dass Khashoggi darüber hinaus in der liberalen Opposition hohes Ansehen genießt, hat ihn in den Augen der Herrschenden in Riad zu einer Gefahr gemacht.
Probleme bereiten die Ereignisse jedoch den Verbündeten. Die USA setzen seit 2017 auf ein enges Bündnis mit Mohammed Bin Salman, mit dem sie die Feindschaft gegenüber Iran vereint. Deutschland hat gerade mühsam eine diplomatische Krise mit Riad beendet, die deutschen Unternehmen in Saudi-Arabien zu schaden begann.
Sollte sich bestätigen, dass die saudische Regierung Oppositionelle in einem NATO-Staat entführt und ermordet, müssen die Verbündeten ihren Unmut ausdrücken. Es drängt sich der Vergleich mit dem Mordversuch an dem ehemaligen russischen Agenten Sergej Skripal in Großbritannien auf, für den der Westen Moskau zur Rechenschaft zieht.
Die Reaktion des westlichen Bündnisses sollte dann ähnlich entschlossen ausfallen wie die nach den Geschehnissen in Salisbury. Zumindest die Ausweisung von Diplomaten wäre eine mögliche und durchaus angemessene Maßnahme.
(** A P)
Killerkommando mit Knochensäge?: Der Druck auf Riad im Fall Khashoggi wächst
Die Führung Saudi-Arabiens bringt die Fülle immer neuer und angeblicher Einzelheiten zu dem Fall trotzdem in Erklärungsnot.
Bevor Khashoggi verschwand, fingen US-Geheimdienste Absprachen saudischer Beamter ab. Das berichtet die "Post" mit Verweis auf eine anonyme Quelle aus Geheimdienstkreisen. Die Saudis wollten Khashoggi zurück nach Saudi-Arabien locken und dort Hand an ihn legen, zitiert die "Post" die Quelle. Es sei nicht klar, ob sie ihn festnehmen, verhören oder umbringen wollten. Unklar sei auch, ob die US-Behörden Khashoggi angesichts ihrer Erkenntnisse gewarnt haben.
Zusätzliche Details kommen von einer Reihe weiterer Medien. Die "New York Times" berichtet unter Verweis auf türkische Beamte, dass es einen Mordauftrag für Khashoggi von den höchsten Ebenen des Königreichs gegeben habe. Mit Verweis auf türkische Quellen berichtet die "Times" auch, der Leichnam Khashoggis sei mit Knochensägen zerschnitten worden, um ihn unbemerkt aus dem Konsulat zu schmuggeln.
Die türkische Zeitung "Sabah" hat zuerst Fotos der Mitglieder des "Killerkommandos" samt Namen, Alter sowie Ein- und Ausreiseuhrzeit veröffentlicht. Das Blatt berichtet auch ausführlich über den Aufenthalt der 15 Männer, darunter angeblich auch ein Forensiker, in der Türkei.
Brisanter als Ankunft, Abflug und der Checkin bei den Hotels ist vielleicht, was in der Zwischenzeit passierte. "Sabah" zufolge verließen eineinhalb Stunden, nachdem Khashoggi das Konsulat betreten hatte, sechs Fahrzeuge mit Beamten das Konsulatsgelände. Zwei weitere Fahrzeuge, darunter ein schwarzer Mercedes Vito mit getönten Scheiben, fuhren vom Konsulatsgebäude zur Residenz des Konsuls, das nur ein paar Minuten entfernt liegt. Bilder, die von Überwachungskameras zu stammen scheinen, führt "Sabah" als Beleg auf. Dem Blatt zufolge befand sich Khashoggi - oder das was von ihm übrig geblieben ist - in dem schwarzen Van.
Wie verlässlich die Informationen sind, die derzeit zum Fall Khashoggi kursieren, ist unklar.
https://www.n-tv.de/politik/Der-Druck-auf-Riad-im-Fall-Khashoggi-waechst-article20664449.html
(* A P)
Verschwundener Journalist Jamal Khashoggi: Niemand ist sicher
Was ist dem saudi-arabischen Journalisten Khashoggi zugestoßen? Sein Verschwinden sorgt für Panik unter arabischen Exilanten in Istanbul. Nun werden neue Details bekannt - darunter die Namen von 15 Verdächtigen.
Mohammed bin Salman ist bemüht, seine Diktatur liberal erscheinen zu lassen, seit er im Juni 2017 Kronprinz wurde. Doch Repressionen gegen Kritiker haben unter seiner Aufsicht zugenommen. Vergangenen Herbst hat das Regime Dutzende Dissidenten, darunter Autoren und Menschenrechtler, festnehmen lassen, einigen droht die Todesstrafe. Sollte Riad ein Mordkommando auf einen Journalisten im Ausland angesetzt haben, wie die türkische Polizei vermutet, wäre eine neue Eskalationsstufe erreicht, sagt Sarah Leah Whitson, Nahost-Direktorin von Human Rights Watch.
Die "Washington Post" hat Aufnahmen einer Sicherheitskamera der türkischen Polizei veröffentlicht, die zeigen, wie Khashoggi am 2. Oktober um 13.14 Uhr Ortszeit das Konsulat betritt. Hatice Cengiz, die ihren Partner im Taxi begleitet hatte, wartete bis ein Uhr morgens vor dem Gebäude. Als Khashoggi dann noch immer nicht zurückgekehrt war, verständigte sie Yasin Aktay, einen Berater des türkischen Präsidenten Recep Tayyip Erdogan, der mit dem Paar befreundet ist, und die türkische Polizei.
Seither kursieren in der Türkei Gerüchte, was mit Khashoggi passiert ist.
Am Nachmittag des 2. Oktober fuhren zwei Autos von dem Konsulat zur 200 Meter entfernten Privatresidenz des Konsuls. Die Ermittler vermuten, dass sich Khashoggi in einem dieser beiden Fahrzeuge befand. Laut eines "Washington Post"-Berichts hat der US-Geheimdienst ein Gespräch abgehört, in dem saudi-arabische Offizielle darüber sprechen, Khashoggi zu kidnappen.
Die regierungsnahe türkische Zeitung "Sabah" veröffentlichte jüngst eine Liste mit den angeblichen Namen der 15 Personen.
(* A P)
Film: Wurde der saudi-arabische Kritiker Kashoggi ermordet?
Jamal Kashoggi gehört zu den schärfsten saudi-arabischen Kritikern von Kronprinz Mohammad Bin Salman. Er wirft ihm vor allem das brutale Vorgehen im Jemen vor und fordert, den Krieg dort umgehend zu beenden. Seit Anfang vergangener Woche ist Kashoggi spurlos verschwunden. Ist er getötet worden?
https://www.facebook.com/Weltspiegel/videos/420231818506127/
(** A P)
US-Geheimdienst soll im Fall Kaschoggi Saudi-Arabien verdächtigen
Ließ Saudi-Arabien den Exiljournalist und Regimekritiker Dschemal Kaschoggi ermorden? Die „Washington Post“ berichtet über entsprechende Pläne.
In der Affäre um ihren vermissten Gastautor Dschemal Kaschoggi bringt ein Artikel der „Washington Post“ die saudischen Behörden in Erklärungsnot. Demnach wurden in Riad schon vor dem Verschwinden des regimekritischen Journalisten Pläne geschmiedet, den 59-Jährigen gefangen zu nehmen und zu verhören - oder sogar zu töten. Das gehe aus Informationen des US-Geheimdienstes hervor, der die Kommunikation zwischen saudischen Regierungsvertretern ausgespäht habe, berichtete die US-Zeitung in der Nacht zum Mittwoch.
Der saudi-arabische Botschafter in den USA, Chalid bin Salman, wies Meldungen über den Tod oder die Verhaftung Kaschoggis als „vollkommen falsch“ zurück und versicherte, dass das Konsulat eng mit den türkischen Behörden zusammenarbeite. Nach Angaben des von Saudi-Arabien finanzierten Kanals Al-Arabija sagte er weiter, das seien „makabre Gerüchte“, die frei von Wahrheit seien.
Erstmals äußerte sich auch US-Präsident Donald Trump zu dem Fall. „Ich bin besorgt“, sagte er am Montag im Weißen Haus. Er hoffe auf eine positive Lösung. „Im Moment weiß niemand etwas darüber, aber es kursieren einige böse Geschichten. Das gefällt mir nicht.“
Auch US-Vizepräsident Mike Pence zeigte sich „zutiefst besorgt“ über die Berichte. Sollten diese Berichte über den Tod Kaschoggis wahr sein, wäre dies „ein tragischer Tag“, twitterte Pence.
Auch UN-Menschenrechtsbeobachter forderten eine umgehende Aufklärung und eine unabhängige internationale Untersuchung.
(* A P)
Vermisster Journalist in Istanbul: Bericht lenkt Verdacht auf Saudi-Arabien
In der Affäre um den vermissten saudischen Journalisten Dschamal Chaschukdschi bringen Medienberichte die saudische Führung weiter unter Druck. Nach einem Artikel der „Washington Post“ – für die Chaschukdschi als Gastautor tätig war – wurden in Riad schon vor dem Verschwinden des regimekritischen Journalisten Pläne geschmiedet, den 59-Jährigen gefangen zu nehmen und zu verhören – oder sogar zu töten. Das gehe aus Informationen des US-Geheimdienstes hervor, der die Kommunikation zwischen saudischen Regierungsvertretern ausgespäht habe, berichtete die US-Zeitung in der Nacht zum Mittwoch.
Die der türkischen Regierung nahestehenden Zeitung „Sabah“ veröffentlichte am Mittwoch Fotos und die Identitäten von 15 Saudis, die am Tag von Chaschukdschis Verschwinden mit zwei Privatflugzeugen in Istanbul gelandet sein sollen.
Der Fall findet in den USA große Aufmerksamkeit, weil Chaschukdschi dort im Exil lebte und unter seinem anglisierten Namen „Jamal Khashoggi“ auch Artikel für die „Washington Post“ schrieb. Die Zeitung berichtete wie zuvor schon die türkische Nachrichtenagentur Anadolu, am Morgen des 2. Oktober sei ein 15-köpfiges Team aus der saudischen Hauptstadt Riad mit zwei Privatfliegern nach Istanbul gereist und anschließend zu dem Konsulat gefahren. Das Blatt beruft sich auf zwei mit den Ermittlungen vertraute Informanten. Am Ende des Tages sei die Männergruppe dann mit verschiedenen Maschinen abgereist, die auf Umwegen nach Riad zurückgeflogen seien, wie auch Flugaufzeichnungen bestätigten.
Anadolu meldete, die türkischen Behörden hätten am 2. Oktober eine Gruppe Saudis und deren Privatflugzeug am Atatürk Flughafen durchsucht, aber nichts gefunden. Die „Bilder, die Sabah“ von dem 15-köpfigen Team veröffentlichte, stammen offensichtlich von Kameras während der Passkontrolle am Flughafen. Es handele sich um eine „Attentatsteam“ schrieb die regierungsnahe Zeitung.
Was zwischen An- und Abreise der Saudis geschah, ist nicht klar. Allerdings liegen der „Washington Post“ nach eigenen Angaben Aufnahmen einer Polizei-Überwachungskamera vor, auf denen ein Van mit getönten Scheiben zu sehen ist. Laut Vertretern der Sicherheitsbehörden hat er einige der Männer vom Konsulat zur knapp 500 Meter entfernten Residenz des saudischen Konsuls gebracht – und das etwa zwei Stunden, nachdem Chaschukdschi die Landesvertretung betreten hatte.
Laut der Zeitung gehen die türkischen Ermittler davon aus, dass die Gesandten Riads in dem Konsulat auf Chaschukdschi warteten. Auch türkische Medien hatten berichtet, dass ein schwarzer Van mit verdunkelten Scheiben das Konsulat zur kritischen Zeit verlassen hatte und dass die Ermittler versuchten, die Insassen zu identifizieren.
(** A P)
Istanbul - Auge um Auge ..
Sollten sich die Hinweise auf die Ermordung Khashoggis bestätigen, hat man es dabei jedenfalls mit einem unerhörten Affront zu tun, den die Türken über kurz oder lang dem Haus Saud heimzahlen werden.
Khashoggi, der anfangs die ehrgeizigen Reformpläne von MbS begrüßt hatte und sie später als Luftnummer kritisierte, setzte sich im September 2017 rechtzeitig ab und ließ sich in der US-Hauptstadt nieder, wo er unter anderem als Kolumnist für die einflußreiche Washington Post sowie als Gastkommentator für die Sender BBC, Al Jazeera und Dubai TV arbeitete. Durch die Verlegung seines Wohnorts entging Khashoggi der großen Razzia im November desselben Jahres.
Die abscheulichen Vorgänge im Ritz Carlton haben Khashoggis Kritik an MbS' erpresserischen Herrschaftsmethoden verstärkt.
Khashoggi hatte sich während seiner Zeit im Exil in die Türkin Ha-
tice Cengiz verliebt. Die beiden wollten heiraten, weshalb er am 28. September das saudische Konsulat in Istanbul besuchte, um seine Papiere in Ordnung zu bringen. Weil der Vorgang nicht auf Anhieb verwaltungstechnisch erledigt werden konnte, gab man im Konsulat Khashoggi einen neuen Termin am 2. Oktober um 13 Uhr. Freunde Khashoggis rieten ihm dringend davon ab, abermals ins Konsulat zu geben. Er entgegnete jedoch, der saudische Staat würde es niemals wagen, auf türkischem Boden etwas gegen ihn zu unternehmen.
Nichtsdestotrotz ließ er seine Verlobte Cengiz draußen vor dem Gebäude mit dem Auftrag auf ihn warten, sich bei Yasin Aktay, einem ehemaligen Abgeordneten der regierenden AK-Partei in der Türkei und politischen Weggefährten Erdogans zu melden, sollte er nicht wieder erscheinen. Dies hat sie nach vier Stunden getan.
Inzwischen ist bekannt, daß am Vormittag des 2. Oktober 15 Männer aus Saudi-Arabien mit zwei Privatmaschinen in Istanbul landeten und direkt zum Konsulat fuhren. Etwa eine Stunde, nachdem Khashoggi das Gebäude betreten hatte, verließen die mutmaßlichen Mitglieder eines Killerkommandos das Gebäude in sechs Wagen. Sie hatten mehrere Koffer bei sich, die als Diplomatengepäck am Flughafen vor dem Rückflug nach Saudi-Arabien nicht kontrolliert werden konnten. Die türkische Polizei vermutet, daß sich die Leichenteile des ermordeten Khashoggi in diesen Koffern befanden. In Saudi-Arabien wird das Verschwinden des populären Journalisten als staatliche Einschüchterungsmaßnahme verstanden. Ob sie die von MbS beabsichtigte Wirkung zeitigt, muß sich zeigen.
Die mutmaßliche Ermordung Khashoggis hat die Regierungen des Westens, allen voran der USA, Großbritanniens, Frankreichs und Deutschlands, deren Rüstungsunternehmen mit dem Völkermord im Jemen einen Reibach machen, in beträchtliche Erklärungsnot gebracht.
http://www.schattenblick.de/infopool/politik/redakt/nhst1626.html
(* A P)
Saudi-Arabien erlaubt der Türkei Durchsuchung von Konsulat in Istanbul
Eine Woche nach dem Verschwinden des saudiarabischen Journalisten Jamal Khashoggi in Istanbul hat Saudi-Arabien der Türkei die Durchsuchung seines dortigen Konsulats erlaubt. Wie das türkische Außenministerium am Dienstag mitteilte, stimmten die saudiarabischen Behörden der Durchsuchung des Gebäudes zu. Angesichts der Vorwürfe, ein Killerkommando aus Saudi-Arabien habe den Dissidenten im Konsulat ermordet, forderten die USA eine "gründliche Untersuchung" des Falls.
"Die saudiarabischen Behörden haben sich zur Kooperation bereit erklärt und einer Durchsuchung des Konsulatsgebäudes zugestimmt", erklärte der türkische Außenamtssprecher Hami Aksoy, ohne einen Termin für die Durchsuchung zu nennen. Saudi-Arabien steht unter Druck, seitdem am Wochenende aus türkischen Regierungskreisen verlautete, dass die Polizei von der Ermordung Khashoggis im Istanbuler Konsulat ausgehe.
Eine Woche nach dem Verschwinden des saudiarabischen Journalisten Jamal Khashoggi in Istanbul hat Saudi-Arabien der Türkei die Durchsuchung seines dortigen Konsulats erlaubt. Wie das türkische Außenministerium am Dienstag mitteilte, stimmten die saudiarabischen Behörden der Durchsuchung des Gebäudes zu. Angesichts der Vorwürfe, ein Killerkommando aus Saudi-Arabien habe den Dissidenten im Konsulat ermordet, forderten die USA eine "gründliche Untersuchung" des Falls.
"Die saudiarabischen Behörden haben sich zur Kooperation bereit erklärt und einer Durchsuchung des Konsulatsgebäudes zugestimmt", erklärte der türkische Außenamtssprecher Hami Aksoy, ohne einen Termin für die Durchsuchung zu nennen. Saudi-Arabien steht unter Druck, seitdem am Wochenende aus türkischen Regierungskreisen verlautete, dass die Polizei von der Ermordung Khashoggis im Istanbuler Konsulat ausgehe.
https://www.tagesschau.de/ausland/khashoggi-111.html
und
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Türkei will saudi-arabisches Konsulat in Istanbul durchsuchen
Die Aussichten auf einen Ermittlungserfolg sind nach Ansicht des türkischen Politikwissenschaftlers Professor Ahmet Kasım Han gering. Die Konsulatsdurchsuchung werde niemanden zufrieden stellen, sagte er der DW: "Wenn man die Durchsuchung eine Woche nach dem Vorfall macht, geht jeder davon aus, dass in der Zwischenzeit sämtliche Spuren bereinigt wurden. Die Türkei kann derzeit nichts ohne die Zusammenarbeit mit Saudi-Arabien machen." Bereits am Sonntag hatte die Türkei zum zweiten Mal in einer Woche den saudischen Botschafter einbestellt.
https://www.dw.com/de/t%C3%BCrkei-will-saudi-arabisches-konsulat-in-istanbul-durchsuchen/a-45812128
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Türkei geht von Mord an saudi-arabischem Journalisten aus
Die britische Regierung spricht nach dem Verschwinden von „äußerst schweren Anschuldigungen“ gegen Saudi-Arabien. Ein Sprecher des Außenministeriums in London sagte am Sonntag, die britische Regierung bemühe sich mit Nachdruck darum, den Sachverhalt aufzuklären.
Mein Kommentar: Schöne Grüße auch von Herrn Skripal.
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Interview zum mutmaßlichen Mord an Saudi-Journalist: "Chaschukdschi forderte Stop des Jemen-Krieges"
Hilal Kaplan ist eine bekannte Investigativ-Journalistin in der Türkei. Sie lebt in Istanbul, gilt als exzellent vernetzte Insiderin mit guten Kontakten zu Sicherheitsbehörden. Im Gespräch mit RT spricht sie über Motive und geopolitische Folgen der Causa Chaschukdschi.
Was könnte das politische Motiv sein, warum die saudische Staatsführung den Journalisten Chaschukdschi in Istanbul getötet haben soll?
Zunächst einmal müssen wir das Interview in der Annahme führen, dass Herr Chaschukdschi tatsächlich nicht mehr am Leben ist. Wenn wir über die politischen Gründe seiner wahrscheinlichen Ermordung sprechen, muss eingeräumt werden, dass er kein Gegner der Monarchie war. Im Gegenteil, er arbeitete zwei Mal als Berater für die saudische Königsfamilie, insbesondere für den ehemaligen Geheimdienstchef.
Fakt ist jedoch auch: er steht in fundamentaler Opposition zur Politik der gegenwärtigen Führung. Der Kronprinz Mohammed bin Salman lässt massenhaft kritische Eliten verhaften, die nicht zu hundert Prozent auf (seiner) Linie sind. Dazu zählt auch Chaschukdschi. Zweitens: Chaschukdschi hat in seinen letzten journalistischen Beiträgen den Stopp des Jemen-Krieges gefordert, was Wellen schlug. Ein dritter Grund ist seine Gegnerschaft in Bezug auf das Embargo Riads und seiner Alliierten gegen Katar. Der vierte und damit letzte Streitpunkt ist die Ablehnung einer zu engen Kooperation mit der Trump-Administration, was regional insbesondere zum Vorteil Israels wirkt. Diese Politik wird von Kronprinz Mohammed bin Salman gefördert. Das führte zu Spannungen, da schließlich Chaschukdschi ein weltweit gehörter und in Saudi-Arabien verwurzelter Meinungsführer ist.
Trotzdem muss betont werden, dass Chaschukdschi nicht als Hardliner bekannt ist. Weithin galt er im Vergleich als moderater Kritiker.
Was gibt es für Hinweise, die eine Ermordung nahelegen könnten?
Genaueres wird von den Sicherheitskräften noch zurückgehalten. Medien in der Türkei berichten über ein 15-köpfiges Team, das am gleichen Tag nach Istanbul gekommen ist und am gleichen Tag des Verschwindens von Chaschukdschi wieder abgereist ist. Es wird vermutet, dass es sich um ein Geheimdienst-Team handele, das den Journalisten tötete. Aber das werden die Kamera-Aufnahmen des Konsulats erst noch zeigen, sofern diese an die türkischen Behörden weitergegeben werden.
Ein weiterer Hinweis, der die Theorie der Ermordung von Chaschukdschi unterstreichen könnte, ist die Tatsache, dass sechs Autos mit getönten Scheiben beim Konsulat vorgefahren sind, die allesamt ein diplomatisches Kfz-Kennzeichen hatten. Um konkret zu werden: es ist unter anderem die Rede von schwarzen Vito-Minibussen, die vielleicht zum Abtransport der Leiche genutzt wurden. Aber das muss von den Sicherheitskräften noch ermittelt und verifiziert werden.
Ich bin mir sicher, dass dieser Zwischenfall nicht ohne Konsequenzen für Saudi-Arabien sein wird. So, wie das die Saudis darstellen, dass die ganze Sache nie passiert sei, erscheint es in letzter Instanz fragwürdig. Es ist nicht von der Hand zu weisen, dass ein international renommierter Journalist in das Konsulat hineinging und nicht mehr herauskam. Das muss Riad erklären.
http://russland.today/der-nahe-osten/77261-interview-zum-chaschukdschi-mord-istanbul-tuerkei-saudi/
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Türkei geht von Mord an saudischem Journalisten aus
Der Reporter Dschemal Chaschuqdschi hatte das saudische Konsulat in Istanbul betreten und wird seitdem vermisst. Türkische Ermittler vermuten, dass er dort getötet wurde.
Der in der Türkei vermisste saudi-arabische Journalist Dschemal Chaschuqdschi soll in der Türkei ermordet worden sein. Er sei im saudi-arabischen Konsulat in Istanbul getötet worden, berichten übereinstimmend die Washington Post und die Nachrichtenagentur AFP unter Berufung auf türkische Regierungskreise. Die Türkei gehe davon aus, dass für die Tat eigens ein saudisches Kommando in die Türkei gereist sei. Das Kommando habe die Türkei noch am selben Tag wieder verlassen, berichtete AFP. Der Nachrichtenagentur AP sagte ein türkischer Beamter, laut erster Vermutungen sei der Reporter in dem saudi-arabischen Konsulat vorsätzlich getötet und dessen Leiche anschließend aus dem Gebäude geschafft worden.
Chaschuqdschi ist seit einem Besuch im saudi-arabischen Konsulat in Istanbul verschwunden, als er von dort Unterlagen für seine Hochzeit besorgen wollte. Laut seiner Verlobten Hatice C., die währenddessen draußen wartete, kam er nicht wieder heraus. Die saudi-arabischen Behörden behaupteten hingegen, der 59-Jährige sei erst nach Verlassen des Konsulats verschwunden
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Journalist verschwand im Konsulat: Ließ ihn das saudische Königshaus in Istanbul töten?
Gegen seine heimischen Kritiker greift Saudi-Arabien hart durch. Nun verschwand ein saudischer Journalist aber in der Türkei. Bestätigen sich neue Berichte, könnte der Fall eskalieren.
Nun häufen sich die – bislang noch unbestätigten – Berichte aus türkischen Sicherheitskreisen: Man gehe davon aus, dass der Dissident in dem Gebäude getötet wurde.
Mehrere Medien berichten unter Berufung auf Ermittlungsquellen, dass er dort ermordet und heimlich aus dem Konsulat gebracht wurde.
Ein Freund Chaschukdschis sagte der Deutschen Presse-Agentur, die Berichte über den Mord seien wahr. "Die türkische Polizei hat uns gesagt, dass er im Konsulat getötet wurde. (...) Sie haben ihn in kleine Stücke zerschnitten."
Die offizielle türkische Nachrichtenagentur Anadolu berichtete zudem von 15 Saudis, darunter Diplomaten, die in zwei Flugzeugen nach Istanbul gereist waren und zum selben Zeitpunkt wie Chaschukdschi im Konsulat waren. Sie seien noch am gleichen Tag wieder abgereist. Offiziell äußern sich die türkischen Sprecher in der heiklen Situation dabei wesentlich zurückhaltender.
Kronprinz Mohammed bin Salman dagegen hatte dem Nachrichtendienst Bloomberg am Mittwochabend persönlich gesagt, Chaschukdschi sei nicht in dem Konsulat. Die Türken dürften es gerne durchsuchen. "Wir haben nichts zu verbergen."
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Die Spur des Kritikers endet im Konsulat
Tötete ein Killerkommando aus Riad den saudischen Journalisten Jamal Khashoggi in Istanbul? Die türkische Regierung geht derzeit von einem politischen Mord aus.
Es soll keine Aufzeichnungen davon geben, wie Khashoggi das Konsulat wieder verlässt, jedenfalls nicht durch diese Tür.
Es gibt auch einen Hinterausgang, in einer wenig befahrenen Parallelstraße. Er ist mit Stacheldraht gesichert, aber breit genug für ein Diplomatenauto, mit dem man den Journalisten und Dissidenten Khashoggi aus dem Konsulat hätte bringen können - tot oder lebendig. Wenn, dann dürfte dies in der Dunkelheit geschehen sein, denn gegenüber liegt ein Kindergarten, wo tagsüber gewiss Betrieb herrscht, und direkt daneben das Konsulat Pakistans. Die türkische Polizei hat rund um das Gebäude Absperrgitter aufgebaut. Am Sonntag warten ein Dutzend Fernsehteams türkischer und arabischer Sender vor den Zäunen, alle Objektive sind auf die geschlossene Besuchertür gerichtet.
und umfangreiche Berichterstattung auf Deutsch, u.a.
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Jamal Khashoggi, der Unbequeme
Kashoggi verfügte zeitweise über beste Kontakte ins Königshaus, eckte aber auch immer wieder an.
Mein Kommentar: Schon so eine Art Nachruf.
cp02 The Khashoggi criminal case: Reports in English
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Film: Mystery behind missing Saudi journalist deepens
CNN's Nic Robertson pieces together a timeline surrounding the disappearance of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
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Jamal Khashoggi case: All the latest updates
The identities of eight members of Saudi team believed to be behind Khashoggi's killing are coming to light.
Here are the latest developments:
Thursday, October 11
US senator calls for halt in arms sales to Saudi ArabiaErdogan: Turkey 'cannot remain silent' over disappearance
Consular source heard screams and sounds of struggle
Turkish investigators have heard testimony from a source who was inside the Saudi consulate at the time of Khashoggi's disappearance who claims to have heard sounds of a struggle, according to Al Jazeera's Jamal Elshayyal, reporting from Istanbul.
"I have learned earlier that, among the evidence with the investigation is testimony from inside the consulate at the time that Jamal [Khashoggi] was there, which includes hearing sounds of loud screams and shouting, as well as calls for help and the sound of a struggle and then sudden silence," he said.
Titles of 'assassination squad' revealed
The identities of at least eight of the alleged 15-member Saudi "assassination squad" that Turkish authorities believe carried out Khashoggi's assassination are beginning to come to light.
Report: Prince Salman ordered Khashoggi operation
The Washington Post reports Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman himself ordered an operation targeting Jamal Khashoggi.
Wednesday, October 10
Turkey and Saudi Arabia 'in talks'
Khashoggi's Apple watch
A Turkish security official told Reuters news agency the Apple smartwatch Khashoggi was wearing at the time of his disappearance was being looked into by Turkish investigators.
They said the watch was connected to a mobile phone Khashoggi left outside and security and intelligence agents in Turkey believe it may provide important clues as to Khashoggi’s whereabouts or what happened to him.
If the watch and phone were connected to the internet and the devices were close enough to synchronise, data from the watch - saved to the cloud - could potentially provide investigators with information such as the journalist's heart rate and location.
Fifteen-member 'hit squad'
Turkish media airs surveillance video
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2018/10/jamal-khashoggi-case-latest-updates-181010133542286.html
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Saudi journalist’s disappearance is a stain on the Crown Prince
Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi may not have been a household name, but his disappearance or presumed murder will be a permanent stain on his government’s assertions that it’s promoting social and economic reforms. The mystery surrounding his disappearance or death get murkier with each passing day, in part because of the geopolitical intrigue and triangle of potential state actors who have their fingerprints all over the fateful Oct. 2 day that Mr. Khashoggi disappeared into the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.
It certainly does not help the investigation that the optics of this being a politically inspired disappearance is further complicated when Turkey has a warm relationship and alliance with Qatar, the neighbouring Gulf country on which the Saudis have declared an all-out cold war. Turkey has been coy and giving conflicting statements about what they believed to have happened to Mr. Khashoggi and certainly Turkey’s own bleak record of mistreatment and jailing of its journalists is being used by Saudi authorities to pour added doubt on the case.
Nevertheless, the only state actor that has an interest in Mr. Khashoggi’s silence is Saudi Arabia
Until he reappears, either dead or alive, the mystery will continue and will certainly take on strong geopolitical overtones as each state blames each other. But Saudi and Arab dissidents worldwide are taking note that by raising their voice, they will by silenced – by Bessma Momani
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Jamal Khashoggi: Saudi journalist ‘cut up with bone saw in Pulp Fiction murder at consulate in Istanbul'
Missing dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi was dismembered with a bone saw in a “Pulp Fiction”-style killing inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, it was claimed today.
Remark: A shorter summing up of the whole case.
And another one: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-10-10/u-s-knew-of-saudi-plan-to-seize-missing-journalist-post-says
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Turkish officials accuse Saudi Arabia of lack of cooperation in Khashoggi probe
Turkish officials on Wednesday accused Saudi Arabia of not cooperating with Turkey’s investigation into the disappearance of prominent Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi at the kingdom’s consulate in Istanbul last week, as video footage and the names of a 15-member Saudi team suspected of ties to the case emerged.
Turkey has put in a request to enter the consulate, where Khashoggi was last seen Oct. 2 as he stepped through the compound’s front gate to obtain papers for his wedding. However, despite Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s offer to Bloomberg News for the Turkish government to search the premises, Saudi Arabia is delaying and does not want an investigative team to enter, one senior Turkish official said.
“The Saudis now seem to delay,” the official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss the ongoing investigation. “They say: ‘You can’t make a proper investigation here. You just come here for a cup of tea and we’ll show you around.’ ”
“The Saudis are not cooperative in this investigation,” another Turkish official said. “We don’t have the access we need to the consulate or to the consul’s house.”
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Naming Names, Turks Turn Up Heat on Saudis in Consulate Case
A Turkish newspaper close to the government has published a list of 15 men it says formed a hit squad of Saudi government agents the Turks suspect of killing and dismembering a prominent critic inside the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul.
While Turkey has not leveled the charges publicly, two Turkish officials speaking on the condition of anonymity confirmed that the government considers the men to be Saudi operatives who flew last week to Istanbul in pursuit of Jamal Khashoggi, the dissident. Mr. Khashoggi has not been seen since he entered the consulate on Oct. 2.
One of the men on the list published by the newspaper, Sabah, is an autopsy expert at Saudi Arabia’s internal security agency, according to the two Turkish officials. Another appears to be a lieutenant in the Royal Saudi Air Force. The officials, citing confidential intelligence, said all worked for the Saudi government.
Turkish officials have said that Mr. Khashoggi was killed at the consulate and that his dismembered body was taken away — an allegation the Saudi government has vehemently denied. Mr. Khashoggi, a veteran Saudi commentator, United States resident and Washington Post columnist, had become a prominent critic of the kingdom’s rulers.
The leak of the list of 15 Saudis appears to be part of a Turkish government campaign intended to put pressure on the Saudi government to admit that Mr. Khashoggi was killed, and to spur wider international outrage.
The Times found corroborating information about two of the men — the lieutenant and the autopsy expert — by comparing the names and photographs in Sabah, the newspaper, with social media profiles and Saudi media reports.
By leaking the names of the individual Saudis, Turkish officials added to an increasingly detailed, if still incomplete, account of what happened to Mr. Khashoggi.
Although the Turkish allegations about Mr. Khashoggi’s killing have so far relied largely on confidential intelligence, Western intelligence agencies have generally regarded their Turkish counterparts as reliable on domestic matters.
“The Turkish services are extremely capable, especially with regards to internal threats or incidents,” said Thad Troy, a senior executive of the business intelligence firm the Crumpton Group and a former senior C.I.A. officer with experience in Turkey.
“The Saudis would have been extremely naïve to believe they could get away with this,” he said, noting that the intelligence services of both countries had previously had “close relations.”
On Tuesday, Saudi officials began to contact their Turkish counterparts for secret talks about resolving the matter. The Saudis have told Washington that they believe they can smooth over the issue, according to both Turkish and American officials briefed on the discussions.
Turkish officials have said that they, too, hope to avoid a confrontation with Saudi Arabia, another major regional power.
But the leaks of the names and other information might make it harder for both sides to save face — for example, through a compromise in which the Saudis would acknowledge the killing of Mr. Khashoggi but blame it on rogue actors – by David D. Kirkpatrick
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/10/world/middleeast/jamal-khashoggi-saudi-turkey.html
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The Trail of Clues in the Disappearance of Jamal Khashoggi
Here is what we know about the details of Mr. Khashoggi’s disappearance.
Friday, Sept. 28
Khashoggi makes an initial visit to the consulate
Tuesday, Oct. 2
Khashoggi disappears
At 3:13 a.m., a private charter plane carrying nine Saudi officials and intelligence officers, some with diplomatic passports, arrived at Ataturk Airport in Istanbul from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, according to the Turkish news outlet Sabah and government officials who spoke with The New York Times.
The plane was a Gulfstream jet owned by Sky Prime Aviation Services, a charter company based in Riyadh that has long worked with the Saudi government.
The Saudi officials checked into two hotels near the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul’s financial district, booking rooms for three nights. They later retrieved their belongings and departed the same day. A Turkish news organization, Sabah, published images of 15 men that turkish officials have identified as Saudi operatives who flew to Istanbul.
At 1:14 p.m., Mr. Khashoggi entered the consulate. He gave his two cellphones to Ms. Cengiz and told her to get help if he did not reappear.
Around 4 p.m., six vehicles left the consulate carrying Saudi officials and intelligence officers, Sabah reported.
Two other vehicles drove to the Saudi consul’s residence on Meselik Street, which is 200 yards from the consulate. Investigators suspect Mr. Khashoggi was in one of these vehicles, Sabah reported. The vehicles stayed there for four hours. Turkish staff members of the residence were unexpectedly told not to report for work that day.
Around 5:15 p.m., a second Sky Prime Aviation Services jet carrying six Saudi officials landed at Ataturk Airport in Istanbul. It departed just over an hour later at 6:20 p.m. and stopped in Cairo before returning to Riyadh.
At 10:46 p.m., the jet that arrived earlier on Tuesday departed Istanbul for Dubai.
Ms. Cengiz waited for Mr. Khashoggi at the consulate until 1 a.m., but he did not emerge.
Wednesday, Oct. 3
Conflicting accounts of disappearance (with images of the site)
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/10/09/world/middleeast/jamal-khashoggi-timeline.html
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[Film: Cars in front of consulate; hit squad at airport]
https://twitter.com/sibeledmonds/status/1049937864824418304
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Please, President Trump, shed light on my fiance’s disappearance
More than a week has passed since our last meeting outside the consulate of Saudi Arabia, before his disappearance became global news. We were in the middle of making wedding plans, life plans. After the consulate, we were going to buy appliances for our new home and set a date. All we needed was a piece of paper.
When I asked him why he decided to live in the United States, he said America was the world’s most powerful country, where one could feel the political pulse of the planet. Jamal had applied for U.S. citizenship, and his reason to visit to Turkey was our intended marriage. He was hoping to take care of all necessary paperwork before returning to Washington.
He was, however, increasingly worried about an unprecedented wave of arrests in his country. Yet Jamal did not think the Saudis could force him to stay at the consulate in Turkey, even if they wanted to arrest him. In other words, he did not mind walking into the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul because he did not believe that something bad could happen on Turkish soil. It would be a violation of international law to harm, arrest or detain people at a diplomatic mission, he said, and noted that no such thing had ever happened in Turkey’s history. After a positive first meeting with consular staff, who welcomed him warmly and assured him that the necessary paperwork would come through, Jamal was hardly concerned ahead of his second visit. He walked into the consulate of Saudi Arabia, his native country, without doubting he would be safe there.
This much is true: He entered the consulate, and there’s no proof that he came out – by Hatice Cengiz, Jamal Khashoggi’s fiancee
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THE SHADOW WAR BEHIND KHASHOGGI’S DISAPPEARANCE
Saudi Arabian journalist’s disappearance is pawn in larger regional struggle that connects Washington, Ankara, Doha and Riyadh.
On the line in the Khashoggi affair is more than the tragic story of a missing journalist who was once an advisor to the Saudi leadership and a path-breaking commentator in the Middle East. Two of the region’s most important states and largest economies, Saudi Arabia and Turkey, have been at odds for years over local policies, and this case could add to the rift between them.
THE KINGDOM has been on its back foot since allegations of foul play emerged on October 3. Over the weekend, new reports claimed that the police thought the journalist had been killed. But Saudi Arabia’s Al-Arabiya television news now claims that many of the allegations have been fanned by Qatar and the Muslim Brotherhood.
An article on Monday asserted that “a Muslim Brotherhood affiliated news website based in London claimed that Khashoggi had been tortured inside the Saudi consulate.” It showed screenshots indicating that Al-Jazeera in Qatar had deleted a tweet with this salacious claim. Al-Jazeera English also changed their headline from “Turkey treating Khashoggi vanishing as murder case” to “Turkish president on Khashoggi vanishing: Upsetting this happens in Turkey,” with a subhead about being “hopeful” the journalist was still alive.
If there is hope he is alive, then how can it be a murder case? As further evidence of the changing narrative, the Saudis point to news reports that were put out in a “synchronized manner on media outlets affiliated with Qatar.” They assert that while reports claimed Khashoggi had been killed, Ankara has said it hopes he will be found alive.
This discrepancy can be found in Western reporting of the incident as well. Western outlets picked up reports that Turkish police thought the journalist had been killed. But then it appears that comments from Ankara showed there was less certainty. By Monday, the allegations of videos and other details had not produced any new evidence.
https://www.jpost.com/International/The-shadow-war-behind-Khashoggis-disappearance-568967
My comment: Assistance for the Saudi viewpoint which sounds like propaganda (http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/world/2018/10/08/Jamal-Khashoggi-mystery-Deleted-tweets-unnamed-sources-and-fake-funeral.html). – And why anyone should be triggered by Saudi emotive terms “Qatar”, “Muslim Brotherhood”?
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EXCLUSIVE: Jamal Khashoggi dragged from consulate office, killed and dismembered
Jamal Khashoggi was dragged from the consul general's office inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul last Tuesday before he was brutally murdered by two men who cut up his body, sources close to the investigation have told Middle East Eye.
Turkish officials say they know when and where in the building the veteran Saudi journalist was killed and are considering whether to dig up the consul-general's garden to see whether his remains are buried there.
Since Saturday, Turkish officials have maintained that he was assassinated inside the building, but have not provided evidence or spoken on the record.
But a Turkish source with direct knowledge of the investigation has given MEE a detailed account of what investigators say happened in the consulate last Tuesday.
"We know when Jamal was killed, in which room he was killed and where the body was taken to be dismembered. If the forensic team are allowed in, they know exactly where to go," he said.
Khashoggi first went to the consulate on 28 September and met with a Saudi diplomat in an attempt to get the papers he needed.
The Saudi diplomat passed him on to a member of Saudi intelligence who said the consulate would be unable to provide what he needed that day, but he could return the following week, the source said.
Khashoggi left the building on Friday with the telephone number of the intelligence official.
On Tuesday morning, Khashoggi called and asked if he should still come to the consulate and was told that the papers were ready for him, the source said. His appointment was for 1pm.
Half an hour before then, during the lunch break held at the consulate, all local staff members left for their usual lunch break which lasts an hour. As they left, they were told to take the afternoon off because a high-level diplomatic meeting was planned for the afternoon in the consulate, the source said.
As a time-stamped photo first published by the Washington Post has shown, Khashoggi walked into the consulate less than an hour later at 1.14pm.
He was greeted by an official, and led into the consul-general's room. Shortly afterwards, two men entered the room and dragged Khashoggi out of the office and into another room where they killed him, the source said, without elaborating how he was killed.
Khashoggi's body was then dragged into a third room and dismembered, he said.
A Saudi source told Reuters that British intelligence believed there had been an attempt to drug Khashoggi inside the consulate that culminated in an overdose.
Digging up the garden
There are around 22 cars which are registered to the consulate of which between three and four are of interest to the murder inquiry.
One of them left the consulate building at 3:15pm and went several hundred metres to the nearby consul general's home, the source said.
MEE understands that the prosecutor general is now considering whether to dig up the consul general's garden to see whether Khashoggi's remains are buried there.
A separate Turkish source told MEE that the consul general has not left his house for the past three days and has cancelled all of his appointments.
This source also said that the Turkish police want to search the residence and also take all the cars which are registered to the consulate to a secure location to examine them, but the Saudis have not allowed this.
A source also told MEE the Saudis took all the hard drives from the security camera room at the consulate with them when they left the building.
A second Turkish source with knowledge of the investigation told MEE that the Turks had video and audio evidence of the killing. However, they have not revealed how they obtained this evidence – by David Hearst
https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/exclusive-1433170798
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Did the U.S. Fail Its “Duty to Warn” Jamal Khashoggi? How U.S. Directive 191 Applies to Kidnapping Threats
The question of whether the United States is failing to respond adequately to foreign governments’ attempted kidnapping or assassination of political opponents, dissidents and journalists—even when it takes place on the soil of NATO allies—is raising concerns for many.
How President Donald Trump and the U.S. government as a whole have responded to such actions is further complicated by whether the U.S. and its intelligence community have advance knowledge of such an attack. That’s because there is an internal government order in place requiring U.S. intelligence agencies to warn an intended victim if the agency acquires information that a threat of kidnapping, murder, or serious bodily injury is imminent.
This question is already being raised with respect to the fate of Saudi journalist and U.S. resident Jamal Khashoggi
“Although I cannot comment on intelligence matters, I can say definitively the United States had no advance knowledge of Jamal Khashoggi’s disappearance,” State Department Deputy spokesman Robert Palladino said Wednesday afternoon. He repeated almost those exact same words again later in the press briefing.
But on Tuesday night, the Washington Post reported that U.S. intelligence agencies intercepted communications that indicated a Saudi plan to capture Khashoggi may have been in the works.
If any U.S. agencies did have foreknowledge of a potential Saudi plan to kidnap, kill, or maim Khashoggi, they had an obligation to warn him.
Intelligence Community Directive 191—titled “Duty to Warn”—obligates U.S. intelligence agencies to inform the victim of a potential kidnapping or murder if the U.S. agency becomes aware of such a threat in the course of collecting or acquiring intelligence.
Kidnapping alone, without any anticipate serious bodily harm, triggers the Directive’s duty to warn. A plan to lure and render Khashoggi against his will (i.e., forcibly transfer him) to Saudi Arabia looks like a case of kidnapping. If US intelligence agencies knew about it in advance, they had a duty to warn him.
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Boxed off: If Saudi dictatorship murdered & dismembered critic in Turkey, how would Erdogan respond?
As Riyadh is accused of allegedly murdering their critic Jamal Khashoggi in Turkey, the key question is how President Erdogan would respond if suspicions are confirmed. My money is on him responding with blood and iron.
If Turkish suspicions are confirmed, sharp questions - sharper than any cleaver - arise for a large circle of international players.
The first is Turkey itself. If true, the Khashoggi murder in Istanbul is a blood-insult to Turkish strong-man president Erdogan. Khashoggi is/was close to the political line of the Muslim Brotherhood which Erdogan supported.
Turkey sides with Qatar in the comic-opera stand-off between the emirate and its bigger neighbor Saudi Arabia. The Qatari-funded international media network is in concert with Turkish media in a chorus of condemnation.
If Erdogan keeps schtum about this apparently unspeakable crime it will be a major blow to his prestige - inside and outside Turkey. If he responds severely, he will place himself on yet another collision course with Donald Trump and his administration - who are deeply in the pockets of MbS.
Precisely because of the Trump family financial exposure to the Saudi regime, the US opposition will ramp up demands for Trump to take serious action against the Crown Prince (even though the Clinton family are equally in hock to Saudi beneficence).
After all, Khashoggi was living in political exile in the United States and working for the country's flagship newspaper, the Washington Post. Were Trump to do so, the extent of his true links - and those of his son-in-law - to MbS might become exposed.
The very newspapers which downplayed the crime today were only yesterday accepting lavish advertising of the “rock-star prince” during his recent visit to London, including the liberal ‘Guardian’. The entire British establishment may now find they have invested heavily in a man who turns out to be a gruesome Mafia-style killer though even Gambino's stomach might have turned at this one.
Inside the kingdom it is impossible to say what the impact of this and subsequent events will be, literally incalculable. The schismatic Al Saud ruling family is already deeply split.
Whether this crime, or rather its consequences, will be the straw which broke the camel's back only time will tell.
Finally, let us examine the likelihood of these allegations being true.
The Al Saud family has a long and grisly history of abduction and murder.
A new sense of outrage might even begin to emerge from the so-called mainstream media fan-club of the rock star prince, though I wouldn't put money on that – by George Galloway
https://www.rt.com/op-ed/440771-khashoggi-murdered-turkey-saudi/
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Turkish and American officials say Saudis contacting Turks for secret talks to resolve Jamal Khashoggi incident, according to the New York Times “They believe they can smooth over the issue. Turks also hope to avoid a major face-off with Saudis”
https://twitter.com/ragipsoylu/status/1050077786797473793
"Smoothing over" meaning getting the Turks to stop the leaks about #JamalKhashoggi's likely murder? To get them not to release potential smoking gun evidence? What a nasty, treacherous game being played with human lives.
https://twitter.com/KarenAttiah/status/1050081613546172416
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Jamal Khashoggi: Apple Watch, hired jet, and mystery vehicle figure in search for missing Saudi dissident
Turkish law required that Khashoggi, who was divorced, provide proof that he did not have a wife. He asked if he could get the document from the Saudi embassy in Washington, according to a friend in Europe, but was told the consulate in Turkey was better placed to help.
Cengiz said Khashoggi wouldn’t have applied for the document in Istanbul if he could have avoided it. Asked to comment, a Saudi official said it was "not accurate" that Khashoggi was told to go to Istanbul.
The friend recounted how he warned Khashoggi against getting the paper in Istanbul for fear the Saudis might arrest him if he set foot in the consulate. "He told me there is no solution except to arrange for this paper with the consulate in Turkey," said the friend
An exiled Saudi dissident who spoke to Khashoggi in the days before his disappearance, said his friend was worried that he might face interrogation by the Saudis, but nothing more.
Khashoggi flew back to Istanbul from London on Monday evening, Oct 1. The following morning, he spoke again with consul worker Sultan, who told him to collect the document at 1 p.m the same day.
Outside the consulate, a low rise building at the edge of one of Istanbul's business districts, Khashoggi handed Cengiz his two mobile phones, the fiancee told Reuters. He left instructions that she should call Aktay, the Erdogan aide, if he didn't reappear. Khashoggi was wearing his black Apple Watch, connected to one of the phones, when he entered the building.
A senior Turkish government official and a senior security official said the two inter-connected devices are at the heart of the investigation into Khashoggi's disappearance.
"We have determined that it was on him when he walked into the consulate," the security official said. Investigators are trying to determine what information the watch transmitted. "Intelligence services, the prosecutor's office and a technology team are working on this. Turkey does not have the watch so we are trying to do it through connected devices," he said.
Tech experts say an Apple Watch can provide data such as location and heart rate. But what investigators can find out depends on the model of watch, whether it was connected to the internet, and whether it is near enough an iPhone to synchronize.
When Khashoggi did not emerge quickly, Cengiz said she at first hoped he had got the document and was talking with consul staff. "But when time passed and employees started leaving the building and he still wasn't out, I panicked," she said.
She called Aktay, the Erdogan aide, around 4.30 p.m and told him her fiance was missing.
Two Turkish security sources told Reuters that security camera recordings showed Khashoggi had not left the consulate by either of its two exits.
They said that 15 Saudi men had entered the building at around the time Khashoggi went in, having flown into Istanbul earlier in the day, most of them on a private aircraft from Riyadh and some on commercial flights.
The men left after "some time" in two cars and returned to the airport, the sources said. They said a third vehicle left at the same time but turned in the opposite direction. Investigators are trying to trace its route by analysing surveillance cameras. The Istanbul consulate referred questions about the 15 men and the vehicles to Saudi authorities, who did not respond to a request for comment.
"It is a very mysterious situation. Diplomats that came in private jets, stay in Turkey for a few hours, and leave. It is also very easy for them to pass through security due to their diplomatic immunity," one of the security sources said.
According to Flight Tracker, an online flight tracking system, a private plane that brought nine of the men in the early hours of Oct. 2 was registered to a company called Sky Prime Aviation Services.
The other six men arrived on commercial flights, the security source said. The 15 men checked in, briefly, to two hotels, the Movenpick and Wyndham, which are close to the Saudi consulate. The hotels declined to comment – by Reuters
Remark: This article retells the whole story and gives many more new details.
And also
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US INTEL KNEW OF SAUDI PLAN TO ABDUCT MISSING JOURNALIST; TURKEY RELEASES FOOTAGE OF “HIT TEAM”
Washington knew… and apparently did nothing, reports Bloomberg based on a bombshell Washington Post report:
U.S. intelligence services intercepted communications of Saudi officials discussing a plan to capture Saudi journalist and government critic Jamal Khashoggi, whose disappearance in Turkey last week threatens to damage the warm ties between the kingdom and Washington.
The Saudis were discussing a plan to lure Khashoggi back to the kingdom, The Washington Post reported, citing a person familiar with the communications, which were intercepted before he vanished. Khashoggi, a columnist for the newspaper, was last seen entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on Oct. 2 and is feared to be detained or dead.
For whatever reason, the Post report buried the lede as the story is headlined simply, Saudis are said to have lain in wait for Jamal Khashoggi.
But the story confirms US intelligence had clear evidence that the Saudi journalist and Washington Post columnist was about to be kidnapped and possibly worse. The WaPo story includes the following: “Before Khashoggi’s disappearance, U.S. intelligence intercepted communications of Saudi officials discussing a plan to capture him…”.
And it now appears the long awaited evidence in the possession of Turkish authorities showing the Saudis to be behind journalist Jamal Khashoggi’s disappearance and alleged murder has been released.
Turkish media is now buzzing with multiple new developments which continue to piece together the allegations of Turkish investigators — that a 15-member team entered the country from Saudi Arabia for his “preplanned murder” as Khashoggi was visiting the Saudi consulate in Istanbul last week.
First, the Turkish newspaper Sabah has released what are purported to be names and photographs of the 15 Saudis who are suspected to be involved in the disappearance of the Saudi journalist.
Subsequent to Sabah’s publication of the names and photos, researchers were able to identify most of their occupations and recent locations.
The alleged group that entered the country on the day of Khashoggi’s disappearance included a Saudi special forces soldier, a lieutenant colonel in the Saudi Civil Defense, a forensic specialist, an air force officer, and at least one recent member of Saudi embassy staff stationed in the UK.
And further significant is that Turkish state media has published video footage and still frames of Saudi planes and agents landing just prior to the alleged crime, with several suspects passing through passport control — now being sought by authorities.
Turkey’s TRT World reports:
Turkey’s public broadcaster TRT World has obtained video footage which shows the Saudi government critic Jamal Khashoggi entering the Saudi consulate on October 2nd. The video also shows alleged Saudi planes and agents, whom Turkish officials want to investigate in relation to the dissident journalist’s disappearance.
Turkish police are reported to be searching for the black van shown in the CCTV camera footage exiting the consulate grounds after Khashoggi disappeared inside. TRT World reports: “Turkish officials want to know what’s in that van and where it is now.”
Sources close to the investigation believe the Saudi journalist and Washington Post columnist was “brutally tortured, killed and cut into pieces” and his body removed from the consulate.
The Washington Post has confirmed that two private planes from Riyadh touched down in Istanbul the day of Khashoggi’s disappearance, which corroborates the airport CCTV footage released by Turkey:
The Times (UK) now reports that this plane evaded search by Turkish police, who reportedly scrambled to locate the suspected hit team as they whisked out of the county. The Times report finds:
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Video could be key to learning fate of Khashoggi - TRT exclusive
The video obtained by Turkey's public broadcaster could be key to discerning the fate of dissident Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, who was last seen in Istanbul on October 2. The video shows alleged Saudi planes and agents being investigated.
Turkey's public broadcaster TRT World has obtained video footage which shows the Saudi government critic Jamal Khashoggi entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on October 2. The video also shows alleged Saudi planes and agents, whom Turkish officials want to investigate in relation to the dissident journalist's disappearance.
Separately, Turkish newspaper Sabah published photos on Wednesday of what it said was a 15-member "assassination squad" allegedly sent to target Khashoggi.
The Sabah report published images of the men apparently taken at passport control. It said they checked into two hotels in Istanbul on October 2, the day Khashoggi went missing, and left later that day.
Eight suspects identified
Eight out of 15 suspects believed to be linked to the disappearance of Khashoggi have been identified, Anadolu Agency reported on Wednesday.
According to the sources, who asked not to be named due to restrictions on speaking to the media, 15 Saudis aboard a private jet and a charter plane with tail numbers HZ SK1 and HK SK2 landed at the Istanbul Ataturk Airport.
https://www.trtworld.com/turkey/video-could-be-key-to-learning-fate-of-khashoggi-trt-exclusive-20779
film: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kvJjLWLwPUA
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Turkey Provides New Links to Alleged Saudi Role in Dissident’s Killing
A team of alleged Saudi assassins flew to Istanbul on a Gulfstream jet controlled by the Saudi crown prince, Turkish officials say
The Gulfstream jets that Turkish officials say ferried operatives who apprehended and likely killed a dissident Saudi journalist in Istanbul belong to a company controlled by Saudi Arabia’s crown prince, people familiar with the matter said.
Turkish authorities also released on Wednesday the names and photographs of the 15 men they say were involved in Jamal Khashoggi’s suspected killing in the kingdom’s consulate in Istanbul on Oct. 2 before returning hours later to Saudi Arabia. They included a forensics expert and a man...(subscribers only)
https://www.wsj.com/articles/turkey-ramps-up-pressure-on-saudis-over-missing-journalist-1539193631
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Turkish newspaper Sabah releases names & pictures of the 15 Saudi who are suspected to be involed in the disappearance of the Saudi journalist.
As these 15 Saudi nationals names have been released, open source intelligence community found practically half of their real jobs. 1-Naif Hasan S. Alarifi, Saudi Special Forces soldier.
2-Mansur Othman M. Abahuseyin, A lieutenant colonel in the Saudi Civil Defense.
3-Dr. Salah Mohammed al-Tubaigy, the head of the Forensic Evidence at the Saudi General Security Department.
4-Waleed Abdullah M. al-Shehri, an Air Force officer who was promoted by the Saudi crown prince MbS as a major last year.
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5-Mishal Saad Albostani, a lieutenant at Royal Saudi Air Forces.
6-Thaar Ghaleb T. Alharbi, promoted by the Saudi Crown Prince MbS to be a lieutenant for defending MbS’s Palace.
7-Maher Abdulaziz M. Mutreb, an Intelligence colonel who was previously stationed at the Saudi Embassy of the United Kingdom. (photos)
https://twitter.com/eha_news/status/1049902454270296064
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A new report by @sabah revealed the names of 15 Saudis who were in Istanbul at the time of Jamal Khashoggi’s disappearance. They travelled to Istanbul in two planes, HZ SK1 and HZ SK2. Here are the alleged names of the Saudi squad
Here are the pictures of the Saudi squad who allegedly played a central role in the disappearance of Khashoggi according to a @sabah report (photos)
https://twitter.com/ragipsoylu/status/1049775081319227392
This is big: Please meet Dr. Salah Muhammed Al-Tubaigy, the head of the Forensic Evidence at the Saudi General Security Department!! The second one on the list of the 15 Saudi nationals who traveled to Turkey to "deal" with @JKhashoggi (photos)
https://twitter.com/Qattouby/status/1049791083553705985
This really looks bad. Imagine, they sent people to Istanbul who are forensic experts in the same day of Khashoggi’s disappearance. If everything leaked by Turkish officials are true, Saudis who were tasked to clean up after the alleged killing were expert investigators
One Turkish official confirms to NYT that 15 Saudi visitors were members of Saudi gov and security services. One was an autopsy expert, presumably there to help dismember the body
Security men guarding the #Saudi consulate from Turkish nationality … The Saudi consulate in Istanbul employs 19 Turkish employees inside the small building (photo)
https://twitter.com/ragipsoylu/status/1049776786899431424
and
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One of the names published by @ragipsoylu of the 15 Saudi nationals traveled to Turkey on the day @JKhashoggi disappeared, matches a Facebook profile of an officer in the Saudi special forces: Please meet Naif Hasan S. Alarifi
Another one of the 15 Saudis traveled to Turkey: Mansur Othman M. Abahuseyin. A lieutenant colonel in the so-called Saudi "Civil Defense" according to this news article from AL-Sharq newspaper
This is big: Please meet Dr. Salah Muhammed Al-Tubaigy, the head of the Forensic Evidence at the Saudi General Security Department!! The second one on the list of the 15 Saudi nationals who traveled to Turkey to "deal" with @JKhashoggi
Please meet number 8 on the list Waleed Abdullah M. Al-Shehri, an air force officer who was promoted by MBS just to be a major last year
Via @iyad_elbaghdadi: #1 on the list (Mishal Saad Albostani) a lieutenant at Royal Saudi Airforce. Studied at the University of Louisville.
Please meet #10: Thaar Ghaleb T. Alharbi. He was promoted to be a lieutenant fro defending MBS Palace that was attacked in Jeddah October last year
#4 Muhammad Saad H. Alzahrani (all with photos)
https://twitter.com/Qattouby/status/1049780027741622274
Tweet says: "Mohammad Saad Al Zahrani with the Deputy Crown Prince", suggests he's a member of the Royal Guard. If my hunch is correct that would mean it's this guy seen with MBS here
https://twitter.com/iyad_elbaghdadi/status/1049799090593251331
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Arab Source: Khashoggi Murdered by Ex-Spokesman of Saudi-Led Coalition in War on Yemen
The former spokesman of the Saudi-led coalition in war against Yemen had been tasked by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman with executing the plot to murder prominent journalist Jamal Khashoggi in Turkey, an Arab media outlet reported on Wednesday.
The Arabic-language al-Waqt news website quoted informed sources as saying that bin Salman had assigned the deputy head of Saudi Arabia's al-Mukhabarat al-A'amah and the former spokesman for the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen Ahmed al-Asiri with the mission to execute Khashoggi.
The source added that the decision to kill Khashoggi was made while ago after efforts failed to return him home.
According to the report, al-Asiri was one of the two options to do the mission, and was assigned to the vitally sensitive mission because of his close ties with the Saudi crown prince. Another military officer who had lots of experience in dealing with dissidents was the second candidate for the mission.
http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13970718000686
My comment: Up to now, there is no proof of this. He seems not to show up in the 15 men hit squad.
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The Saudis Have to Answer for Their Latest Heinous Crime
The newest details back up the initial reports of the murder and how it was carried out, and they show that the murder was carefully planned and organized well in advance. The latest reports confirm that everything that the Saudi government has said about this so far has been a brazen lie. The administration ought to denounce this heinous act in the strongest possible terms, and Congress should start by blocking arms sales to the Saudi coalition and voting to cut off military assistance for the war on Yemen. No one believes the Saudis’ self-serving claims about this crime.
Turkish journalists have been reporting what they believe to be the names of the Saudi agents, and several of the agents have been identified as belonging to the Saudi security services.
Additional details strengthen the case that the murder was premeditated. The Guardian reports.
These reports tell us about a cold, calculated hit that was carried out against a relatively mild critic of the Saudi government’s policies. It seems clear that the Saudi government planned to kill him when he returned to the consulate for his appointment, and then proceeded to do exactly that. It is another in a string of outrageous attacks on journalists, and it sets a terrible precedent that other governments in the region and around the world may be tempted to copy. The Saudi government has to be held to account and forced to pay a high price both for what it has done and to discourage other states from doing the same thing to their own critics abroad.
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One high #Saudi source that i trust says #Jamal_khashoggi was captured in #Istanbul then moved to #Riyadh. Due to risk of communication, source cannot give more info. Let’s hope this is the case instead of murder.
https://twitter.com/AliAlAhmed_en/status/1049789913808420864
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Saudis are said to have lain in wait for Jamal Khashoggi
As Jamal Khashoggi prepared to enter the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on Oct. 2, a squad of men from Saudi Arabia who investigators suspect played a role in his disappearance was ready and in place.
They had arrived from Riyadh, the Saudi capital, early that morning and checked in at two international hotels in Istanbul before driving to the consulate in the leafy Levent neighborhood, said two people with knowledge of the investigation. One of them, the Mövenpick Hotel Istanbul, is a few minutes from the consulate by car.
By the end of the day, a 15-member Saudi team had conducted its business and left the country, departing on planes bound for Cairo and Dubai, according to flight records and the people familiar with the investigation.
Turkish officials have previously said they believe that Khashoggi, a prominent journalist and critic of the Saudi government, was killed inside the consulate.
Turkish officials, who are examining the squad’s movements, have now expanded their investigation to explore what happened at the residence of the Saudi consul general, Mohammed al-Otaibi, located 500 yards from the consulate. A photograph taken from a Turkish police closed-circuit television camera outside the residence and obtained by The Washington Post shows a Mercedes Vito van with tinted windows that security officials say transported some of those men from the consulate to the residence about two hours after Khashoggi entered the consulate.
Before Khashoggi’s disappearance, U.S. intelligence intercepted communications of Saudi officials discussing a plan to capture him, according to a person familiar with the information. The Saudis wanted to lure Khashoggi back to Saudi Arabia and lay hands on him there, this person said. It was not clear whether the Saudis intended to arrest and interrogate Khashoggi or to kill him, or if the United States warned Khashoggi that he was a target, this person said.
According to flight records, two privately owned planes flying from Riyadh arrived in Istanbul on Oct. 2, one before sunrise and the other in the late afternoon. A Turkish official linked the call signals of the two twin-engine Gulfstream IV planes to those that investigators believe carried the 15 Saudis. The planes are owned by Riyadh-based Sky Prime Aviation Services, according to public records.
The first plane was carrying the part of the Saudi team that was awaiting Khashoggi at the consulate, investigators believe, when he arrived at 1:14 p.m. to collect a document he needed for his upcoming marriage.
Turkish police operate at least one camera at the front of the building. Investigators have also examined footage that covers the rear of the mission. Closed-circuit TV camera feeds from the preschool opposite the rear entrance have been retrieved by Turkish intelligence, and images from outside the hotels are also being reviewed, according to people familiar with the probe.
A camera recorded Khashoggi entering the consulate at 1:14 p.m., but he was never seen leaving.
“It’s clear he did not exit,” said one Turkish official with knowledge of the investigation
Behind a gate next to the front entrance is a covered car port, out of the view of cameras. From that garage, two vehicles exited about two hours after Khashoggi entered the consulate, according to one of the people briefed on the investigation – By Loveday Morris, Souad Mekhennet and Kareem Fahim (with films and a drawing of the site)
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Film: Saudi Arabia's accelerating crackdown on all dissent goes way beyond the horrific disappearance of #JamalKhashoggi - My colleague @sarahleah1 gives some of the grim details to @cnn
"The Saudis have offered not one single shred of evidence to support their claim that #JamalKhashoggi left the consulate..." None of the consulate's cameras were recording? Preposterous, says @sarahleah1
https://twitter.com/astroehlein/status/1049586556003119104
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Turkey says will search consulate where Saudi journalist vanished
Turkey said on Tuesday it would search Saudi Arabia’s consulate in Istanbul where Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi vanished last week, and close ally Britain called on Riyadh to provide “urgent answers” over his disappearance.
Turkey’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Hami Aksoy said the investigation was “continuing intensively”. The Vienna Convention on diplomatic relations allowed for consulates to be searched by authorities of a host country with consent of the mission chief, he said.
“The consulate building will be searched in the framework of the investigation,” Aksoy said in a written statement.
(and story backwards)
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Saudi Arabia invites Turkey to visit Istanbul consulate: Anadolu agency
Saudi Arabian officials invited Turkish experts and related officials to visit its consulate in Istanbul, Turkey’s state-owned news agency Anadolu said on Tuesday, following the disappearance of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi a week ago.
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Missing journalist’s fiancee demands to know: ‘Where is Jamal?’
The sleepless nights show in the dark circles under Hatice Cengiz’s eyes as she recounts the last moments she saw her fiance before he disappeared into the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul to finalize papers for their wedding. She is accompanied by two plainclothes Turkish police officers for protection. She is scared.
“I no longer feel like I am really alive,” she said. “I can’t sleep. I don’t eat.”
It has been nearly a week since Cengiz, 36, last saw the man she planned to marry, Jamal Khashoggi, a prominent Saudi journalist and critic of the Saudi government. She is the only witness to his disappearance inside.
She had said she’d wait for him near the front entrance. “Fine, my darling,” he said, before turning and heading into the squat yellow structure, which lacks the grandeur of many of the kingdom’s diplomatic buildings.
Cengiz has not been told whether Khashoggi is alive or dead. On Monday, she was interviewed for the second time by police. They took some of his clothes and other personal items for DNA samples, she said.
Key to the Turkish investigation could be surveillance footage from the streets adjacent to the consulate. At least six closed-circuit cameras are positioned at the front entrance of the consulate next to its barbed-wire-topped walls. Some of them are maintained by Turkish police.
When Cengiz was first interviewed by police, on the day Khashoggi disappeared, she was presented with a still from one of the cameras that showed him walking in.
“Is this him?” they asked her. She confirmed that it was — in the dark jacket that he had been wearing.
At least four cameras keep watch on the garage and the back entrance. Three more are pointed at the road next to the back entrance, mounted at a primary school across the way. The footage has been retrieved by Turkish intelligence, according to ISS, the firm that handles security at the site.
Since Khashoggi’s disappearance, some pro-Saudi accounts online have questioned whether Cengiz is part of a plot to discredit the kingdom.
As a response, she scrolls through selfies of the two of them in the summer, smiling and pressed close. “I really exist, and he is my fiance,” she said.
It was around 4 p.m. when Cengiz started to realize that something was really wrong.
She checked the consulate’s closing time on the Internet — 3:30 p.m.
“That’s when I began to ask, ‘Where did Jamal go?’ ” she said. She called a friend as she walked to the gate. “My friend told me that I didn’t sound normal when I called her,” she said. “I was out of my mind.”
She asked a guard: “Where is Jamal?”
She called the consulate: “Where is Jamal? I am waiting at the entrance. Jamal entered and didn’t come out.”
A man came to the entrance. “There’s no one inside,” he said.
Khashoggi had previously told her to call an adviser to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan if anything happened to him. She did. And she reported the disappearance to police.
But solid information has been slow in coming from Turkish authorities. She is frustrated with the lack of information she has received.
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Bellingcat:
Now that Turkish officials have pledged that they'll release evidence (including video footage, focus on black car) that they say supports the claim that @JKhashoggi was killed shortly after entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, let's see what the #OSINT community can find.
A request to look at openly tracked flights from Istanbul to Saudi Arabia, or the other way around, has led to no results so far, but who knows what can still be found.
We've been looking at publicly available webcams around the perimeters of the Saudi consulate (h/t @evaludemann), but no webcam has been found. Here's the location: https://www.google.com/maps/place/Consulate+of+Saudi+Arabia+-+%C4%B0stanbul/@41.0824924,29.0142899,383a,35y,339.46h,44.93t/data=!3m1!1e3!4m12!1m6!3m5!1s0x14cab66feb356405:0xde66b0225591c24a!2sConsulate+of+Saudi+Arabia+-+%C4%B0stanbul!8m2!3d41.0858071!4d29.0121987!3m4!1s0x14cab66feb356405:0xde66b0225591c24a!8m2!3d41.0858071!4d29.0121987 …. Pakistani consulate surely has camera footage, but will they publish it?
A geobased search on social media using @echosec_uk between October 1 and October 7, has also — so far — not led to anything of interest. But who knows, once Turkish officials release information about that black car.
Okay, this may be worth looking into: 15 Saudis allegedley travelled in two private Gulfstream IVs to Istanbul on October 2. Tail fin numbers are HZ-SK 1 and HZ-SK 2. H/t referring to
New details from another @sabah report on Jamal Khashoggi investigation. The tale of two Saudi jets which visited Istanbul in the day of disappearance, involving Dubai and Egypt https://twitter.com/ragipsoylu/status/1049415857456275456
The above reporting by @DailySabah can be corroborated with open sources, both flights were tracked:
This picture — spread via WhatsApp — allegedly shows @JKhashoggi walking into the Saudi consulate at 13:14 local time. (H/t @MeKassab/@soltanlife for sharing). Geolocation shows it is indeed the north entrance of the Saudi consulate in Istanbu (photos)
Do we know what kind of clothes @JKhashoggi was wearing on October 2? Any help much appreciated. In case there is such visual information, does it match this?
Speaking to @washingtonpost (https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/missing-8/d1734ac8-cb15-11e8-ad0a-0e01efba3cc1_story.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.2a774f4e40db …), @JKhashoggi's fiancée confirms it's him on the surveillance camera (Cam 1 of possibly 4).
Turkish daily newspaper @milliyet reports that 6 “mysterious” vehicles left the Saudi consulate 2.5 hrs after @JKhashoggi entered it. One of them was/resembled a Mercedes Vito, which went to Consulate General's residence
https://twitter.com/trbrtc/status/1049325871767670785
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Six vehicles left two hours after #JamalKhashoggi went inside the Consulate. Each group of 3 went to 2 different directions. 2 of the vans had Saudi number plates (diplomatic immunity) & black covers on the windows. Police think Jamal’s body might be carried out in one of these (photo)
https://twitter.com/HilalKaplanEng/status/1049234071178682368
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‘Our Hands Can Reach You’: Khashoggi Case Shakes Saudi Dissidents Abroad
A Saudi women’s rights activist was driving in the United Arab Emirates when she was pulled over by security officers, thrown on a plane to Saudi Arabia and jailed.
In Canada, when a Saudi student refused to stop making YouTube videos criticizing the kingdom’s rulers, two of his brothers back home were imprisoned.
So when a prominent Saudi critic, Jamal Khashoggi, disappeared after entering the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul last week, it hardly surprised Saudi dissidents living abroad — until Turkish officials said they believed he had been killed.
Even for a country that has long used fear and enticements to control dissent, the prospect that the state had killed a well-known dissident writer in a foreign country represented a startling escalation.
As Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has pushed his vision for modernizing Saudi Arabia, he has increasingly shown little tolerance for criticism.
It remains unclear what happened to Mr. Khashoggi.
But Saudi dissidents abroad have little doubt that their government targeted Mr. Khashoggi because of his prominence. A resident of the United States, he regularly appeared on television and contributed columns to The Washington Post.
“It’s a message, very clear, that our hands can reach you wherever you are,” said Ghanem al-Dosary, a longtime dissident in London who has a large social media following.
If Saudi agents are found to have killed Mr. Khashoggi, the reverberations could sabotage Saudi Arabia’s international relations, starting with its neighbor Turkey.
Many Saudi dissidents living abroad have already felt government pressure.
“They don’t care if you are famous, if you have a big following or not,” said the dissident in Canada, Omar Abdulaziz. “’If you criticize us even a little bit, we are going to go after you.’”
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/08/world/middleeast/saudi-jamal-khashoggi-dissent.html
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End the Noxious U.S.-Saudi Relationship
If the latest outrage from Mohammed bin Salman changes anything, it should at the very least put an end to the absurd description of the crown prince and his allies as “reformers” once and for all. Reformer is a label that Western pundits and politicians use to describe foreign leaders when they want to express approval and support. It is often not intended to be an accurate statement about the leader’s record, but rather serves to distract from the worst parts of that record in order to sell the leader to Western audiences. Foreign leaders know that they can win a lot of supporters in the West just by saying the right things about a handful of issues, and as long as they keep up appearances their Western boosters will overlook or even defend the worst excesses.
All Mohammed bin Salman had to do was talk about moderate Islam and diversifying the Saudi economy and then emphasize his hatred for Iran, and his fans were immediately hooked by the promise of what he might do in the future. In return, they studiously ignored the many horrible things he was doing in the present, they shifted blame for the war on Yemen to others, or they made lame attempts to spin his purge as an “anti-corruption drive.” The problem for his fans was that Mohammed bin Salman’s pattern of reckless behavior didn’t stop and wasn’t limited only to his foreign policy debacles. The cruelty and incompetence that the Saudi coalition has displayed in the war on Yemen have been replicated in Saudi Arabia’s internal affairs as well. The kingdom’s intensifying repression and arbitrary arrests have scared off foreign investment, caused massive capital flight, and exposed the makeover that pro-Saudi P.R. firms have tried to give the kingdom as the sham that it always was.
The crown prince has already proven himself to be an impetuous, clumsy, inept, and brutal ruler, and no one should have any illusions at this point about what the Saudi government is going to be like as long as he is in power. The war on Yemen was the earliest, biggest, and most destructive proof of this, and there have been many more examples in the last three and a half years. By itself, Khashoggi’s murder should severely strain relations between Saudi Arabia and its Western patrons.
https://www.theamericanconservative.com/larison/end-the-noxious-u-s-saudi-relationship/
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Jamal Khashoggi’s Fate
The Saudi reformers have allies in Washington, but they will lose them if they aren’t transparent about Jamal Khashoggi’s fate.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/jamal-khashoggis-fate-1538952004
Comment by Daniel Larison: The Wall Street Journal publishes a predictably toothless editorial in response to reports that the Saudi government has murdered Jamal Khashoggi:
https://www.theamericanconservative.com/larison/end-the-noxious-u-s-saudi-relationship/
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Silicon Valley-Loving Saudi Prince at Center of Scandal Over Missing, Possibly Murdered Journalist
It’s possible that instead of being brazenly murdered, Khashoggi was the subject of a brazen kidnapping. The Washington Post’s sources, however, said one source relayed that investigators believe a 15-man Saudi assassination team arrived in Turkey as part of a “preplanned murder.” And the incident has put Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the day-to-day ruler of the kingdom who has promoted himself as a reformer and robot-loving tech innovatorwhile simultaneously cracking down on dissent, right in the spotlight.
The crown prince’s political supporters have at times tried to present him as a Silicon Valley-style disruptor.
But bin Salman is also in control of the Saudi security services. As the Times wrote on Saturday, if Saudi officials really ordered Khashoggi detained and killed, it will be much harder for potential business partners to ignore his atrocious human rights record:
„But Mr. Khashoggi’s death in Turkey — if confirmed — could change all that. It would likely be widely viewed as a brazen violation of international norms and a grave escalation of what critics have called reckless and ruthless efforts by the prince to consolidate power and stamp out dissent at home and abroad.“
Much of the work that may have put Khashoggi in danger touched upon bin Salman’s efforts to pitch Saudi Arabia as a reforming nation ready to be at the forefront of innovation.
It’s not clear whether those efforts would have ever worked. As the Middle East Eye noted earlier this year, there are significant obstacles between the Vision 2030 plan and current reality
Al Jazeera’s Jamal Elshayyal reported that if “Turkish authorities can prove unequivocally that Saudi agents essentially murdered a journalist inside the consulate in Istanbul, it would require some sort of strong reaction. One of the political sources that Al Jazeera spoke to on Saturday said it was confident Turkey’s reaction would be ‘very strong’... Al Jazeera has also learned in the next day or so video material will be released showing details of the assassination.”
https://gizmodo.com/silicon-valley-loving-saudi-prince-at-center-of-scandal-1829586645
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Washington Post: We need answers on Jamal Khashoggi’s disappearance
THREE GOVERNMENTS now bear inescapable responsibility to act on the disappearance of Jamal Khashoggi, the renowned Saudi journalist and commentator for ThePost, who vanished after entering Saudi Arabia’s consulate in Istanbul last Tuesday.
If true, this is a horrific crime, the assassination of a journalist in his own country’s consulate on foreign soil — something without precedent in modern times. So far, we have no proof.
Mr. Khashoggi went to the consulate Sept. 28 in a first attempt to take care of some routine paperwork and was told to come back the following week. Then 15 Saudi officials entered Istanbul, “specifically for the murder,” according to sources quoted by The Post’s Kareem Fahim. Mr. Khashoggi entered the consulate again last Tuesday and did not come out.
Saudi Arabia must immediately answer: Who were these 15 officials? What happened, precisely, inside the consulate? The contrived “visit” inside the consulate arranged for Reuters journalists on Saturday does not alleviate worry about Mr. Khashoggi’s fate.
Having disseminated the awful charge that Mr. Khashoggi was murdered, Turkey must immediately make public any evidence it has to back it up. Turkey must also spare no avenue to investigate.
The United States, too, should demand answers, loud and clear. President Trump has treated the Saudi crown prince as a favored ally, and his administration sidestepped criticism of the regime’s abuses.
If the crown prince does not respond with full cooperation, Congress must, as a first step, suspend all military cooperation withthe kingdom – by Editorial Board
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Turkey claims Saudi dissident was killed, dismembered inside Saudi consulate
Turkish government sources have said that a former trusted aide of the Saudi royal family, who was shunned by Riyadh after criticizing Saudi policies, was murdered inside the Saudi Arabian consulate in Istanbul.
In recent months, Khashoggi moved to Istanbul and planned to marry Hatice Cengiz, a local graduate student. Last Tuesday, in preparation for his wedding with Cengiz, Khashoggi went to the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on a prescheduled visit, reportedly to request a document certifying his divorce from his former wife in Saudi Arabia. The document was reportedly required under Turkish marital law. But The Washington Post columnist has not been seen since. On Sunday, Turkish government officials said that Khashoggi had been brutally murdered inside the Saudi consulate, probably on orders of the Saudi government. Turkish media reports said on Sunday that a 15-member Saudi team arrived in Istanbul shortly prior to Khashoggi’s visit to the consulate. The team, whose members carried diplomatic passports, tortured and then killed Khashoggi, said Turkish sources. They then dismembered his body and took it out of the consulate hidden inside a diplomatic vehicle.
On Sunday, Saudi Arabia denied the charges and said that Khashoggi left the consulate in Istanbul less than an hour after entering it on Tuesday afternoon. But Turkish officials, speaking anonymously to local media, said that the government had “concrete proof” and that the case would be solved soon through a series of public announcements. However, no accusations have been issued publicly and some doubt that Ankara has evidence to implicate the Saudi government in Khashoggi’s disappearance. Others wonder whether the Turkish government will wish to enter into an escalating diplomatic confrontation with the powerful Saudi royal family.
https://intelnews.org/2018/10/08/01-2413/
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Turkey's tells Saudis to prove missing journalist left consulate, U.S. urges Saudis to support inquiry
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan on Monday called on Riyadh to prove its claim that Saudi Arabian journalist Jamal Khashoggi, who has been missing since last week, left the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.
[and the whole story again here]
Comment: For all the rumors and misinformation flying around, this is the key point. Saudi could prove he left the building. It has a huge interest in doing so. Yet it hasn't. The only logical conclusion is that he didn't leave safely.
https://twitter.com/glcarlstrom/status/1049511061869617154
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Turkey asks to search Saudi consulate for journalist
Turkey has asked for permission to search Saudi Arabia’s consulate in Istanbul after Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi went missing last week following his entrance to the mission.
Turkish officials told Reuters over the weekend that they believed Khashoggi had been killed inside the consulate, and President Tayyip Erdogan said he was closely following the case.
A Turkish official also said Saudi Arabia’s envoy to Ankara had been summoned to the foreign ministry for a second time on Sunday. “It has been conveyed to him that we expect full coordination in the investigation process,” the ministry said.
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Saudi officials must prove Khashoggi left consulate: Erdogan
Saudi Arabian officials must prove that journalist Jamal Khashoggi, who has been missing since last week, had left the Istanbul consulate, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Monday.
“We have to get an outcome from this investigation as soon as possible. The consulate officials cannot save themselves by simply saying ‘he has left’,” Erdogan told a news conference in Budapest.
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I really hope the Saudi gov hasn't killed #JamalKhashoggi. But if it has, what could possibly have made MBS believe that he could get away with it? Could it possibly be the sense - true or false - that he has so much of the DC media & political elite in his pocket?
If it proved that easy for a brutal, ruthless and Machiavellian crown Prince to be portrayed by the US media as a benevolent and enlightened reformer... And if it proved that easy for him to be praised by the West as he imprisoned and tortured his political rivals...
And if it proved that easy for him to get away with kidnapping the prime minister of Lebanon without getting any negative media in the West. And if it proved that easy for him to help get the Secretary of State of the US fired for having opposed his plan to invade Qatar...
And if it was that easy for him to spend $6 billion dollars a month to starve and kill the people of Yemen without getting any meaningful and sustained negative media in the West...
Then perhaps, just perhaps, he also felt he could murder #JamalKhashoggi and still maintain the fake image of being an enlightened reformer. Because the Western media would never call him out. Not even for that. Because they haven't done it for any of his other crimes.//
https://twitter.com/tparsi/status/1048766634293383168
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#Saudi mad king #MBS is now pressuring #JamalKhashoggi 's family to play along his narrative. Saudi have always used family members to pressure its critics. I know this very well.
https://twitter.com/AliAlAhmed_en/status/1048951104355143681
referring to a report at Saudi news site:
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Khashoggi's family: We trust our government and keep the frantic horns silent
The legal advisor, Mutasim Khashoggi, told Al-Arabiya.net that the family is coordinating with the Saudi government regarding the missing citizen.
"We trust the government and the measures it takes, and all the efforts being made in the case of Jamal Khashoggi are coordinated with the state and the embassy in Ankara," he said.
Khashoggi said that some countries have a malicious agenda, which tried to pass through the exploitation of the subject of Saudi citizen Jamal Khashoggi, and said: "We know the objectives of electronic flies and frantic horns that attack the country for bad purposes, and tell those who have been disappointed and missed your intentions, People and people who politicize this subject and use the name of the family and brother Jamal to pass their sick agenda, and this talk does not walk on us nor our age or we will be a tool in the hands of one, and our loyalty to our rulers and our state, and the Saudis all loyalty to their homeland.
(A P)
The MF has been killing and dismembering kids in Yemen for over 3 years. But it's only a big deal to you media folks now that he also kills and dismembers a journalist he disliked? Go keep on praising the reformer, as you did before.
https://twitter.com/BaFana3/status/1049058267060686848
Deadly military move: Saudi Arabia has found a way to entice all Houthis to attend at Saudi embassies & consulates.
https://twitter.com/BaFana3/status/1049065536729096194
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Friend: Saudi journalist ‘killed’ at consulate in Istanbul
A friend of a prominent Saudi journalist who went missing in Istanbul said Sunday that officials told him to “make your funeral preparations” as the Washington Post contributor “was killed” at the Saudi Consulate.
A Turkish official separately told The Associated Press that authorities believe Jamal Khashoggi was slain at the Saudi Consulate, while another said it was a “high probability.”
Saudi officials have denied allegations that Khashoggi was killed at the consulate, calling them “baseless.”
Meanwhile, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said “God willing, we will not be faced with the situation we do not desire” when asked by journalists about Khashoggi.
The growing dispute over his fate threatens relations between Saudi Arabia and Turkey and raises new questions about the kingdom and the actions of its assertive Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, whom Khashoggi wrote critically about in his columns.
Turan Kislakci, a friend of Khashoggi and the head of the Turkish-Arab Media Association, spoke to the AP on Sunday outside the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul. He said he believes Turkish officials soon will announce the findings of their investigation.
“What was explained to us is this: He was killed, make your funeral preparations,” Kislakci said. “We called a few other places, these are lower officials, but they said: ‘We have evidence he was killed in a barbaric way, we will announce it tomorrow or the day after.’”
Kislakci also alleged, based on conversations with officials he did not name, that Khashoggi was made to “faint,” then was dismembered.
and like a comment:
Here's Jeff Bezos, owner of the Washington Post, yukking it up back in March with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, whose government appears to have just murdered a Washington Post columnist. (photo)
https://twitter.com/schwarz/status/1048697745849180160
and
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Saudi Arabia / Turkey: Alleged assassination of Jamal Khashoggi in Consulate would set abysmal new low
Responding to reports alleging that Saudi Arabian journalist Jamal Khashoggi was killed inside his country’s Consulate in Istanbul, Amnesty International’s Middle East Research Director Lynn Maalouf said:
“Reports that a team flew in from Saudi Arabia expressly to carry out a ‘planned murder’ in the Consulate are cause for extreme alarm after Jamal Khashoggi’s disappearance since entering the building on 2 October.
“If true, this would be an abysmal new low. Such an assassination within the grounds of the Consulate, which is territory under Saudi Arabian jurisdiction, would amount to an extrajudicial execution. This case sends a shockwave among Saudi Arabian human rights defenders and dissidents everywhere, eroding any notion of seeking safe haven abroad.
The international community’s deafening silence on Saudi Arabia’s crackdown on freedom of expression must end and it must demand an immediate explanation from Saudi Arabia’s authorities about Jamal Khashoggi’s fate or whereabouts. If the reports are true, they must immediately launch an independent investigation and those responsible, however high their rank or status, must face justice.
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Saudi journalist Khashoggi — reported killed in Turkey — slammed Saudi rulers over Canada spat, Yemen war
Two months before he went missing in Turkey, suspected killed inside the Saudiconsulate in Istanbul, Turkey, Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi took to his Washington Post column to slam his country’s rulers over their diplomatic spat with Canada.
“Instead of lashing out at Canada, shouldn’t we ask why peace-loving Canada has turned against us?” Khashoggi wrote in an article titled, “Saudi Arabia cannot afford to pick with fights with Canada.”
“We, Saudi citizens, need to see the bigger picture. Canada raised the flag against human rights abuses in Saudi Arabia. Surely, we cannot arbitrarily arrest female activists and expect the world to turn a blind eye.”
https://globalnews.ca/news/4524743/saudi-journalist-jamal-khashoggi-washington-post/
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Audio: Jamal Khashoggi: 'People who get arrested are not even dissidents'
Three days before he disappeared, Jamal Khashoggi was in London for a conference and came into the Newshour studio for an interview.
Before beginning the scheduled recording about the Middle East Peace process, we asked him whether he thought he could return to Saudi Arabia.
We wouldn't normally broadcast an off-air conversation, but we've decided to make an exception, in light of the current circumstances.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p06n9vww?ocid=socialflow_twitter
Comment: I have to say, I find this unacceptable, and it makes me think twice about any conversations I'll have off air with any medium. If I am detained (and I have been) the last thing I want is someone recklessly releasing off the record conversations I've done about my captors.
This is not simply about someone's assessment of the risks to Khashoggi himself. There is a reason why he said things *off-air* as opposed to on-air. He, and he alone, knows that reason, and the calculations that went into that. No-one should prejudice and ignore that.
https://twitter.com/hahellyer/status/1049615104172527616
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Film: Do these tweets 'prove' Saudi involvement in journalist Jamal Khashoggi's disappearance?
https://twitter.com/MiddleEastEye/status/1049354338378948608
(A P)
Prince Turki Al Faisal (TAF) was an AMB in UK, Khashoggi was his adviser. TAF was AMB in US, Khashoggi served as media aide. Nowadays TAF moves from forum to another bugging us with his words to polish KSA image. Now Why TAF keep silence to what had happened to his consultant?
Prince TAF was the director of Saudi Arabia general intelligence directorate, he knows all the Saudi intelligence tricks. The only Justification of his silence is that he learned the lesson from the Ritz-Carlton (films9
https://twitter.com/HussamSanabani/status/1050162456125935616
cp03 Reaktionen in den USA / Reactions in the US
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How the Khashoggi Affair May Affect U.S.-Saudi Relations
The disappearance of the prominent Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi won't completely upend U.S.-Saudi relations but will almost certainly have a significant negative impact on them.
The disappearance of the prominent Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, who was living in self-imposed exile in the United States and writing for The Washington Post, is developing into a significant problem for U.S.-Saudi relations. The relationship between the United States and Saudi Arabia is primarily transactional, and not sentimental or values-based on either side. Therefore, even if many Americans conclude that the Saudi government is responsible for Khashoggi’s disappearance or death, the fundamentals of the relationship are unlikely to be re-evaluated and transformed. However, it is likely that there will be a significant impact on the political and foreign policy conversation in Washington regarding relations with Saudi Arabia that could lead to repercussions in both the near and long terms. Saudi Arabia may have to deal with much more opposition in Congress to weapons sales and other forms of cooperation and far more skepticism and criticism in the mainstream U.S. media. At the very least, the tone and tenor of the relationship is likely to deteriorate reflecting a growing anti-Saudi sentiment in American public opinion.
But the nature of the U.S.-Saudi alliance in all probability strongly limits the impact this event could have on the fundamentals of the relationship. Each side fulfills a core strategic need for the other, and there are no plausible alternatives for both. The key bases of the alliance are strategic and military cooperation, stability and order in the world’s energy markets, and maintaining security and stability in the Gulf region and the strategically crucial waters of the Gulf itself. As long as the United States wishes to remain the predominant outside power in the Gulf region and the guarantor of stability, it must rely on a partnership with a key local power. That means, in effect, that Washington must partner with either Saudi Arabia or Iran.
As the administration of former President Barack Obama discovered in the months after the nuclear agreement with Iran was concluded, Iran is not prepared to act as a stabilizing power in the region and remains fundamentally a revisionist actor challenging the status quo. Saudi Arabia, on the other hand, is committed to maintaining most aspects of regional stability and the status quo, and therefore Washington and Riyadh are largely in accord on most long-term goals in the Gulf region and the broader Middle East.
Therefore, neither the United States nor Saudi Arabia can radically alter the basic equation in this transactional relationship without fundamentally rethinking their strategic posture.
However, if the narrative that is rapidly taking hold in Washington, that Saudi Arabia was responsible for Khashoggi’s disappearance, becomes the received wisdom, the relationship will undoubtedly suffer negative impacts if not a total re-evaluation.
Moreover, this issue plays into two existing political divisions in Washington, and will be used by anti-Trump forces in the Democratic Party to cudgel the president and the administration.
Therefore, while the Khashoggi affair, however it plays out, will not lead to a fundamental rupture or re-evaluation of the U.S.-Saudi relationship, it is also unlikely to have no impact or be dismissed as an unfortunate incident. Congress can act on its own, and pressure from Congress and the media may prove irresistible, forcing the administration to take a stronger stance than it wishes – by Hussein Ibish
My comment: It’s realpolitik, stupid. A crucial statement: “As long as the United States wishes to remain the predominant outside power in the Gulf region and the guarantor of stability, it must rely on a partnership with a key local power. That means, in effect, that Washington must partner with either Saudi Arabia or Iran.” And they wish to remain. Rogue states take rogue states as bedfellows. Period.
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Donald Trump says US 'demanding' answers over disappearance of journalist Jamal Khashoggi
Donald Trump says he is "demanding" answers from Saudi Arabia over missing journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
The US president, a key ally of the oil-rich Gulf state, said he had spoken with Saudi representatives about the "bad situation" with the journalist but did not disclose details of the conversations.
Mr Trump also says he has reached out to Mr Khashoggi's fiance, Hatice Cengiz, and invited her to the Oval Office.
He told reporters that "nobody knows what happened yet", and expressed a hope that the journalist may still be alive.
"It's a very serious situation for us and this White House," he said.
(A P)
Ex-U.S. energy head Moniz halts Saudi work over journalist's disappearance
Former U.S. Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz said on Wednesday he has suspended his role on the board of Saudi Arabia’s planned mega city NEOM until more is known about the journalist Jamal Khashoggi, who disappeared on Oct. 2 after visiting a Saudi consulate in Turkey.
(* A P)
Department Press Briefing - October 10, 2018
Robert Palladino, Deputy Spokesperson
Department Press Briefing
Washington, DC
October 10, 2018
QUESTION: Let’s start with the whole situation in Turkey with Mr. Khashoggi and the Saudis. We’ve all seen, I think – at least most of us have seen the White House statement about the calls that went out, which you’re more than welcome to repeat if you want, but I want to ask you about a specific line in one report about this that said that the U.S. had intelligence, overheard or intercepted communications, suggesting that there was a threat to Mr. Khashoggi should he go. Is that correct?
MR PALLADINO: I’ll get to that question, and I’ll answer it directly, Matt, thank you. I would just – I would start at the top by saying, as the President has conveyed, both the Vice President and the Secretary of State, we – the United States is concerned by Jamal Khashoggi’s disappearance. And we can confirm that Ambassador Bolton and Jared Kushner have spoken to the crown prince yesterday, and we can confirm as well that the Secretary of State then had a follow-up call with the crown prince to reiterate our request for more information. We continue to call for a transparent investigation, and we’re going to continue to monitor this situation.
As to your specific question regarding intelligence, I would say that although I cannot comment on intelligence matters, I can say definitively the United States had no advanced knowledge of Jamal Khashoggi’s disappearance.
QUESTION: Well, okay, that’s a bit different than – I mean, did you have any advance knowledge that there might be some kind of threat to him should he go into the consulate in Istanbul?
MR PALLADINO: We had no advanced knowledge.
https://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/dpb/2018/10/286551.htm
Comment: Q: What’s the name of the ambassador in Turkey...? A: I don’t have that ... Q: What’s the name of the ambassador in Saudi Arabia right now? A: I see what you’re getting at... Q: The answer is that you don’t have an ambassador in either place, right?
https://twitter.com/nahaltoosi/status/1050160441928949760
(A P)
The @nytimes just pulled their media sponsorship from the Saudi Arabian Investment conference sponsored by Crown Prince MbS. Every other American brand should follow.
https://twitter.com/shaunking/status/1050165683332501505
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The Khashoggi case is a crisis for U.S.-Saudi ties
This could be the moment that Saudi Arabia finally loses Washington.
If his killing is confirmed, it could prompt a decisive change in how the United States deals with Saudi Arabia. Leading Republican and Democratic lawmakers issued notes of alarm over the reports of Khashoggi’s death and threatened repercussions if they are true.
Saudi authorities have vehemently denied the claims as “baseless allegations” and said a team of Saudi investigators had arrived in Istanbul to assist the Turkish inquiry into Khashoggi’s disappearance. Saudi officials in Istanbul took a team of journalists inside the consulate in a bid to prove their innocence. Meanwhile, reports in Saudi media attempted to discredit the accounts of Khashoggi’s fiancee, who first reported that he was missing on Tuesday.
No Turkish official has yet publicly confirmed that Khashoggi is dead.
But many Turkish officials seemed confident in the assessment that the Saudis carried out murder.
At the time of writing, the Trump administration had not responded to the allegations.
Trump is not bothered by monarchical excesses in Riyadh.
But in Congress, there is growing disquiet over the apparent carte blanche the White House has given the Saudis, particularly as the United States continues to back the bloody Saudi-led intervention in Yemen.
If Khashoggi’s alleged murder is confirmed, that political scrutiny will only deepen. And while the American public may not be bothered by the disappearance of an outspoken Saudi journalist, Khashoggi’s case is likely to shadow all discussions of U.S.-Saudi ties in Washington. American commentators who conducted lengthy interviews with the crown prince as part of Riyadh’s PR push earlier this year have already sounded off, demanding action.
The brazenness of Khashoggi’s apparent assassination sends a chilling message to other Arab dissidents in the Middle East.
That seems to be the goal of MBS and his father, King Salman. “Their foreign policy is based on a single doctrine: establishing the supremacy of Saudi Arabia in order to make it the sole arbiter of Arab affairs and the main point of entry for all international powers into the region,” wrote Madawi al-Rasheed, a Britain-based academic and critic of the Saudi government, in a new collection of essays on the kingdom – By Ishaan Tharoor
https://www.washingtonpost.com/amphtml/world/2018/10/08/khashoggi-case-is-crisis-us-saudi-ties/
(* A P)
Could the Murder of WaPo Journalist Finally Put a Crack in US Support of Saudi Arabia?
“If this is true – that the Saudis lured a U.S. resident into their consulate and murdered him – it should represent a fundamental break in our relationship with Saudi Arabia,” declared Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) in response.
Spurring fresh outrage among those who criticize the cozy relationship between the U.S. government and the Saudi monarchy—with emphasis on Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MbS)—political dissident and Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi.
“Unbelievable” and “WTF!!!” declared CodePink’s Medea Benjamin, a U.S. peace activist and expert on the Saudi’s human rights record, after reading the news.
If the murder happened as is being reported, Benjamin told Commons Dreams, it is “beyond belief,” but also quite easy to believe given the country’s record and that of MbS.
“It exposes the horrific nature of the Saudi regime,” she explained, “and it has the fingerprints of the crown prince all over it. MbS, who was feted as a refreshing young reformist when he visited the United States, bombs children in Yemen with impunity. He jails women human rights activists and then declares himself a liberator of women. He imprisons and shakes down his internal rivals in an ‘anti-corruption’ drive. He kidnaps the Lebanese head of state and creates a Gulf-wide crisis by attacking Qatar. And now he has a journalist who was living in the United States, a journalist who was a mild critic, murdered on Turkish soil?”
MbS, she concluded, “is out of control and this should be the long-awaited moment for the US to totally recalibrate its relationship with this criminal regime.”
“If true, this would be an abysmal new low,” said Amnesty International’s Middle East Research Director Lynn Maalouf. “Such an assassination within the grounds of the consulate, which is territory under Saudi Arabian jurisdiction, would amount to an extrajudicial execution. This case sends a shockwave among Saudi Arabian human rights defenders and dissidents everywhere, eroding any notion of seeking safe haven abroad.”
(A P)
Rand Paul Says He'll Try to Block Saudi Arms Sales Over Khashoggi Disappearance
Paul has long opposed U.S. arms sales to Saudi Arabia.
Sen. Rand Paul (R–Ky.) told a radio station today that he intends to try, once again, to block U.S. arms sales to Saudi Arabia. While the particular news hook this week is the Saudi government's possible complicity in the disappearance of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, Paul has long been opposed to the U.S. role in helping support, among other things, the corrupt and repressive regime's highly destructive war in Yemen.
https://reason.com/blog/2018/10/09/rand-paul-says-hell-try-to-block-saudi-a
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MENENDEZ, CORKER, LEAHY, GRAHAM LETTER TRIGGERS GLOBAL MAGNITSKY INVESTIGATION INTO DISAPPEARANCE OF JAMAL KHASHOGGI
In a letter to President Donald J. Trump, U.S. Senators Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) and Bob Corker (R-Tenn.), ranking member and chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) and Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), ranking member and chairman of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs, today triggered an investigation and Global Magnitsky sanctions determination regarding the disappearance of Jamal Khashoggi
Dear Mr. President:
The Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act requires the President, upon receipt of a request from the Chairman and Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, to determine whether a foreign person is responsible for an extrajudicial killing, torture, or other gross violation of internationally recognized human rights against an individual exercising freedom of expression, and report to the Committee within 120 days with a determination and a decision on the imposition of sanctions on that foreign person or persons.
The recent disappearance of Saudi journalist and Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi suggests that he could be a victim of a gross violation of internationally recognized human rights, which includes “torture or cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment, prolonged detention without charges and trial, causing the disappearance of persons by the abduction and clandestine detention of those persons, and other flagrant denial of the right to life, liberty, or the security of person.” Therefore, we request that you make a determination on the imposition of sanctions pursuant to the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act with respect to any foreign person responsible for such a violation related to Mr. Khashoggi. Our expectation is that in making your determination you will consider any relevant information, including with respect to the highest ranking officials in the Government of Saudi Arabia.
(* A B P)
Alleged Killing of Journalist Puts U.S.-Saudi Relationship Under Microscope
“Unbelievable” and “WTF!!!” declared CodePink’s Medea Benjamin, a U.S. peace activist and expert on the Saudi’s human rights record, after reading the news.
If the murder happened as is being reported, Benjamin told Commons Dreams, it is “beyond belief,” but also quite easy to believe given the country’s record and that of MbS.
“It exposes the horrific nature of the Saudi regime,” she explained, “and it has the fingerprints of the crown prince all over it. MbS, who was feted as a refreshing young reformist when he visited the United States, bombs children in Yemen with impunity. He jails women human rights activists and then declares himself a liberator of women. He imprisons and shakes down his internal rivals in an ‘anti-corruption’ drive. He kidnaps the Lebanese head of state and creates a Gulf-wide crisis by attacking Qatar. And now he has a journalist who was living in the United States, a journalist who was a mild critic, murdered on Turkish soil?”
MbS, she concluded, “is out of control and this should be the long-awaited moment for the US to totally recalibrate its relationship with this criminal regime.”
Benjamin wasn’t the only one arguing the murder should force a reckoning in terms of U.S.-Saudi relations.
(A P)
Saudi Story About Journalist Jamal Khashoggi Doesn’t Hold Up, Says Bob Corker: ‘Everything Points’ to Murder
“The Saudis—I mean, they’ve got some explaining to do,” Corker told The Daily Beast Tuesday evening after viewing classified intelligence about Khashoggi's disappearance.
Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN), the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said Tuesday that “everything today points to” the idea that Saudi journalist and legal U.S. resident Jamal Khashoggi was murdered last week inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.
Corker told The Daily Beast that his view was reaffirmed after viewing classified intelligence about the disappearance of Khashoggi, a Washington Post contributor and fierce critic of the Saudi government, from inside a secure area of the Capitol.
“It points to the idea that whatever has happened to him, the Saudis—I mean, they’ve got some explaining to do,” Corker told The Daily Beast.
Corker, an outspoken critic of Saudi Arabia, said he spoke recently with the Saudi ambassador to the U.S., who told him that the surveillance video outside the consulate only live-streams and does not record.
“I’ve never ever heard of a security system like that,” Corker added. “That was pretty hard for me to believe. And I shared that with him. And he said, ‘well, it was malfunctioning and it was only live-streaming.’ And so to me it feels very much like some nefarious activity has occurred by them. But I don’t want to rush to judgment. They need to figure out a way if it’s not true to … show that he left the embassy after coming in.”
Corker warned that a congressional response to the alleged killing would be “tangible,” adding: “Our relations with Saudi Arabia, at least from the Senate standpoint, are the lowest ever. It’s never been this low.”
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Another Feeble Trump Administration Response to Saudi Crimes
The official Trump administration responses on the Khashoggi case are about as tepid and toothless as can be
It took the Trump administration six days since Khashoggi first disappeared before they provided any official response beyond generic expressions of concern. The vice president’s statement alludes to Khashoggi’s likely murder, but neglects to mention that the Saudi government is the one being held responsible for the violence done to him. Secretary Pompeo calls on Saudi Arabia to support a thorough investigation, as if they are not the prime suspects of any credible investigation that would take place. The messages coming from the Trump administration are scarcely better than boilerplate statements, and it shows that the administration has no interest in criticizing the Saudi government or in holding them accountable for their crime. The president’s remarks earlier in the day were even more feeble.
This isn’t something that is going to “sort itself out.” The Saudi government is denying everything and hoping that other governments’ inattention or indifference will let them off the hook for the crime. The Trump administration doesn’t want to challenge the Saudis on anything, and so it appears they are going to pay just enough lip service so they can say that they didn’t completely ignore it.
I have referred on occasion to Trump’s “Saudi first” foreign policy in the region, and I fear that we are seeing more of it on display this week.
(A P)
Critics use alleged murder of Saudi journalist...to bash Trump
The disappearance of a dissident Saudi journalist in the kingdom’s consulate in Istanbul last Tuesday has offered pundits a golden opportunity to pin the blame on their favorite target: Donald Trump..
Despite the gruesome allegation, the case is so far thin on actual evidence — and not everyone is taking the Turkish story at face value. In the absence of much information, speculation has run riot.
Regardless of what has actually happened to Khashoggi, pundits in the US were quick to label Trump the real culprit in the mystery — suggesting that Trump’s lack of moral leadership and unwillingness to stand up to the Saudis perhaps convinced King Salman that he could get away with chopping up the body of a dissident in a foreign consulate.
Some of the names cropping up to complain about Trump’s silence and apparent lack of leadership on the matter were quite interesting indeed. Ken Roth, the executive director of Human Rights Watch, for example, was not exactly known for his strong criticism of Riyadh and its relationship with the White House under former president Barack Obama.
When the US administration did finally publicly react to the disappearance of Khashoggi, the statement wasn’t sufficiently dramatic enough for people’s liking
https://www.rt.com/usa/440811-saudi-journalist-critics-bash-trump/
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Trump Voices Concern, Senators Warn of Consequences Over Saudi Journalist Murder Claims
A similar call came from the International Federation of Journalists, which represents more than 600,000 journalists around the world.
“While waiting for Turkey’s official investigation report, we call on the Saudi authorities to immediately release the images supporting their claims that he left the building,” said general secretary Anthony Bellanger.
Turkey’s national intelligence organization (MIT) has been tasked to help Istanbul police in the investigation.
“Members of the police and MIT will reportedly jointly analyze surveillance videos of the consulate’s entrance and exits as well as the airports in Istanbul and gather any information that might help the case,” the Hurriyet daily reported.
Khashoggi’s disappearance and alleged murder is drawing some strong reactions in the U.S. Congress, with lawmakers on both sides of the aisle finding some common ground after the divisive Kavanaugh confirmation process.
“It is imperative that we find out what happened to Mr. Khashoggi and the Saudi government give a clear answer as to their conduct and information on his whereabouts,” said Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.).
Corker, who chairs the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, tweeted that he had raised the issue with the Saudi ambassador to the U.S., “and while we await more information, know we will respond accordingly to any state that targets journalists abroad.”
“If true, the international community must stand together and enforce consequences,” said Sen. Bob Menendez
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SAUDI ARABIA REFUSES TO ANSWER US QUESTIONS ABOUT ALLEGED MURDER OF DISSIDENT JOURNALIST
The close relationship between the Trump administration and Saudi Arabia has come under strain over Riyadh’s refusal to respond to questions about the alleged disappearance and murder of a prominent journalist who has been critical of the kingdom’s leaders.
The State Department says it is also investigating Khashoggi’s disappearance, but has received few answers from the Saudi government. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and other top U.S. diplomats have complained privately about Riyadh’s lack of response to direct high-level queries, the Washington Post reported Monday.
If the shocking reports of Khashoggi’s murder by Saudi agents are confirmed, it could force a reassessment of the close relationship Washington has forged with bin Salman’s government. President Donald Trump and his son-in-law, Middle East envoy Jared Kushner, have embraced bin Salman as a social reformer and a partner in the administration’s efforts to confront Iran in the region.
But leading up to Khashoggi’s disappearance, U.S. lawmakers on both sides of the aisle had begun to question the alliance with Riyadh, especially Washington’s backing of the Saudi-led coalition in the war against Houthi rebels in Yemen.
https://dailycaller.com/2018/10/08/saudi-arabia-khashoggi-murder-us-questions/
(A P)
Pompeo calls on Saudi government to investigate Khashoggi disappearance
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Monday called on the government of Saudi Arabia to support “a thorough investigation” of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi’s disappearance and to be transparent about the results of that investigation.
and full statement in image https://twitter.com/Joyce_Karam/status/1049488122097094661
My comment: Does he ask for a self-investigation, as in the case of Yemen???
Comment: fairly tepid statement.
https://twitter.com/glcarlstrom/status/1049505383713103872
(A P)
Mattis says Pentagon is monitoring situation
Mattis told reporters Tuesday that the Defense Department is "intellectually" monitoring the situation, but that the counterterrorism mission remains front and center in the region.
"We're monitoring this very closely, this situation very closely and we're working closely with U.S. State Department... We're reviewing what's going on. Obviously we have [military to military] relations that have to do with the protection of the Saudi people."
(A P)
Trump: concerned about reports of Saudi journalist missing in Turkey
“I am concerned about it. I don’t like hearing about it,” Trump told reporters at the White House. “Hopefully that will sort itself out. Right now nobody knows anything about it.”
and film: https://twitter.com/tictoc/status/1049424122437079040
and
(A P)
Trump to discuss missing journalist with Saudis
U.S. President Donald Trump said on Tuesday he plans to speak with Saudi Arabian officials about the disappearance of prominent Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, who went missing a week ago.
Trump, speaking at the White House, said he did not know details about Khashoggi’s disappearance. Asked if he had spoken to officials in Saudi Arabia about Khashoggi, Trump told reporters in the Oval Office: “I have not. But I will be at some point.
“I know nothing right now. I know what everybody else knows - nothing,” Trump said.
(* A P)
If Jamal Khashoggi news is true, one way to predict what @StateDept will say is to check its approach to the recent detention of female Saudi activists. Mainly, it’s been silence. When pressed, State says it’s “concerned.” In diplomatic speak, “concerned” typically means “meh.”
I actually asked the @StateDept this evening what their position is now on the detained Saudi women. “We remain concerned,” a spokesman said.
https://twitter.com/nahaltoosi/status/1048702671090270208
The US is desperately clinging to its Unipolar moment. They rely on Saudis to a) sell oil in $ b) recycle oil $ into the US economy & c) re-direct arms to rebel/terrorists in Syria and elsewhere to project clandestine American power. So no, they don't care about #Khashoggi.
https://twitter.com/EurasianCentury/status/1048797698823020545
(A P)
The silence of @HillaryClinton & @BarackObama on #JamaKhashoggi disappearance shows their real colors.
https://twitter.com/AliAlAhmed_en/status/1049952034789711872
(* A P)
Around the time #Khashoggi complained about MBS's enemies blacklist, MBS reportedly bragged that Jared Kushner had supplied him with US intelligence files on his supposed enemies, and that he used it in his anti-corruption purge
https://twitter.com/MaxBlumenthal/status/1049886930383622147
referring to
(* B P)
Saudi crown prince bragged that Jared Kushner gave him CIA intelligence about other Saudis saying 'here are your enemies' days before 'corruption crackdown' which led to torture and death
cp04 Internationale Reaktionen / International reactions
(A P)
Amnesty International: Where is Jamal Khashoggi?
The journalist walked into a Saudi Arabian consulate in Turkey last week, disappeared, and hasn’t been seen since.
Right now in Saudi Arabia, the government is cracking down on dissent by arresting people who speak up against the government, subjecting them to unfair trials, and sentencing them to long prison sentences – some may even face the death penalty.
For activists and dissidents in Saudi Arabia and the world over, the disappearance of Jamal means that the hope of a safe place abroad is diminishing.
The world needs to know what happened to Jamal Khashoggi and we need your support to make this happen.
Write to the Saudi Arabian Government now and ask them – where is Jamal and what happened to him?
https://www.amnesty.org/en/get-involved/take-action/saudi-arabia-jamal-khashoggi/
(A P)
UN Urges Investigation on Khashoggi Murder
The United Nations special rapporteur on freedom of opinion and expression calls for an investigation into the disappearance and alleged murder of the Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi after entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in Turkey.
“Disappearance and alleged murder of Jamal Khashoggi requires immediate and independent international investigation,” David Kaye tweeted on Sunday.
Kaye said such probe was necessary to “protect any investigation against claims of politicization or bad faith.” The investigation would also “demonstrate international revulsion of crimes against journalists,” he added.
https://english.almasirah.net/details.php?es_id=3160&cat_id=2
(A P)
International Reactions to Disappearance of Saudi Journalist Khashoggi
The United Nations confirmed Tuesday that if Khashoggi's disappearance is concerning. "It would be a dangerous and shocking development." The UN called on Saudi Arabia to cooperate with Turkey over the disappearance of journalist Jamal Khashoggi after his visit to Istanbul earlier this month. A UN spokeswoman said that UN human rights rapporteurs would issue a statement.
https://english.almasirah.net/details.php?es_id=3190&cat_id=2
(A P)
Britain asks Saudis to explain what happened to missing journalist
Britain’s foreign minister Jeremy Hunt called on Saudi Arabia to explain what happened to the journalist Jamal Khashoggi, who has been missing since he visited the Saudi consulate in Istanbul last week.
“Violence against journalists worldwide is going up and is a grave threat to freedom of expression. If media reports prove correct, we will treat the incident seriously - friendships depend on shared values.”
My comment: Which values did he ever think to share with the Saudis? But, might-be Hunt really shares more values with them than you would imagine.
(A P)
EU expects investigation of Khashoggi disappearance, Mogherini says
The European Union fully supports U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who called on Saudi Arabia to investigate the disappearance of the journalist Jamal Khashoggi, EU policy chief Federica Mogherini said on Tuesday.
“We are fully aligned with the U.S. position on this,” Mogherini told reporters in Lisbon. “We expect a full-out investigation and full transparency from Saudi authorities on what happened.”
cp05 Lange Geschichte von saudischen Entführungen / Long history if Saudi abducations
(* B P)
Mohammad bin Salman Is Scared of Saudi Expats
The crown prince will stop at nothing to silence his growing number of critics, regardless of where they live.
The rationale behind the alleged act becomes easier to understand when it is properly seen as part of a larger pattern. Khashoggi’s rise to prominence was part of an unprecedented—and generally underappreciated—development in recent Saudi history that Mohammad bin Salman has been treating as a threat to his rule: More Saudis than at any time in recent memory have fled the kingdom, with many seeking asylum in Western countries.
Saudis are increasingly leaving because they feel their freedom of expression—especially the right to criticize their government—has become unduly restricted at home. That’s why they have sought to live abroad, beyond Riyadh’s reach, where they can and do speak their minds freely.
The Saudi government has responded by trying to intimidate the growing number of expatriates.
Even in Canada, some Saudis say they are still not safe.
“If [you] do not side with the government, you are seen as a traitor. The number of dissidents is unprecedented,” said one Saudi national living in exile in the United States. “I know a lot who were tricked to go back and then were arrested. This has been done [many times]. It’s traditional practice, I guess, to trick people to go back.”
At home, the number of Saudis punished for dissent is staggering.
https://foreignpolicy.com/2018/10/09/mohammad-bin-salman-is-scared-of-saudi-expats/
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Saudi Arabia's long and dark history of abductions
Riyadh has repeatedly been accused of kidnapping and sending dissidents back to the Gulf kingdom, accusations it denies
The Turkish police have launched a probe and claimed that Khashoggi was murdered inside the consulate. A claim Saudi Arabia has ridiculed.
Despite the denials, the oil-rich kingdom is an absolute monarchy and has a track record of refusing to tolerate dissent by its citizens - both domestically and abroad.
In the last year alone, the Twitter account, Prisoners of Conscience, noted that Saudi Arabia has detained more than 100 Saudi academics, activists and Islamic scholars,
Below is a breakdown of just some of the Saudi citizens, including dissidents and princes, suspected of being abducted, assassinated, or disappeared by Saudi Arabia abroad over the space of many years.
Riyadh has denied all these accusations.
Nassir al-Sa'id
Prince Sultan bin Turki
Prince Turki bin Bandar Al Saud
Saud bin Saif al Nasr
Loujain al Hathloul
https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/Saudi-Arabia-long-and-dark-history-abductions-1848677102
(B P)
In August last year, Saudi crown prince MBS’s closest aid — who oversees foreign propaganda operation — tweeted to a prominent Saudi oppositionist:
“The assassination file has been reactivated again. Stay tuned.”
An anonymous Saudi account, which includes the name of ousted crown prince MBN, explicitly advised @JKhashoggi against entering any of the Saudi embassies overseas under any circumstances even if a pledge of safety came directly from king Salman, or given Al-Hayat paper ownership (images)
https://twitter.com/hxhassan/status/1049726782319026176
(B P)
Meet the journalists killed by #Saudi Monarchy forces: Photo journalist Zuhair AlSaeed was shot while filming a protest in February 2012 @hiattf #Jamal_khashoggi @CPJMENA He was the first to be killed in the country’s history (photos)
https://twitter.com/AliAlAhmed_en/status/1049610413598539776
Hussain AlFaraj was the second journalist killed by #Saudi Monarchy forces. He was shot dead in February 2014 after death squad spotted him filming a raid. He gave himself up but was killed anyways (photos)
https://twitter.com/AliAlAhmed_en/status/1049613667619262464
(B P)
Film: "I would never trust the Saudis." Human rights activist and Saudi dissident @GhanemAlmasarir says the the Kingdom's government "does not want to hear any voices that criticise them".
https://twitter.com/SkyNews/status/1050126431039176707
(* B P)
Lebanese ex-journalist who interviewed Hariri in Riyadh confirms 'kidnapping'
Saudi Arabia has been engulfed by several controversies since MbS was named crown prince
Amid the mystery surrounding the disappearance of Jamal Khashoggi from the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, Lebanese journalist-turned-MP who interviewed the Lebanese PM in Riyadh confirms Hariri was detained by Saudis.
A Lebanese lawmaker has confirmed Riyadh was detaining the Lebanese Prime Minister last year amid fresh controversy surrounding a critical Saudi journalist who was reportedly murdered by Saudi agents in Istanbul.
Paula Yacoubian, a former journalist who had interviewed Saad Hariri in Riyadh last November after he made a shock resignation, made the remarks during an interview with Lebanese Al-Jadid TV on Sunday.
"It seems [Hariri] was threatened but I don't know to what extent… without evidence or documentation I can say that he was detained," Yacoubian said.
"It was clear that Hariri was tired and under pressure. It was clear from the interview that he didn't want to resign."
Before running and winning a seat in the Lebanese legislative elections in May, ex-TV host Yacoubian was the first to interview the premier after he announced his resignation in a televised speech from Saudi Arabia, stunning his country and creating a mystery that has lasted until today.
She initially denied that Hariri had been held against his will and had been intimidated into quitting his post.
cp06 Propaganda
(* A P)
Khashoggi's disappearance: A new twist in bitter Gulf battle
The alleged murder of dissident Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi in Turkey will only serve to further entrench both sides of the acrimonious Gulf crisis
Without a doubt, though, the implications of Khashoggi's disappearance are wide-ranging, aside from being traumatic and potentially tragic for his family and friends.
Further, if he has in fact been detained or killed by Saudi officials, these actions deal a severe blow to free speech and create considerable anxiety among Gulf-based and Gulf-focused academics and journalists, as well as sending a powerful message to Gulf nationals who publicly criticise government policies.
Until we reliably know what has happened to Khashoggi, however, the only thing that is certain is that his disappearance has both revealed and heightened tensions between the two sides of the Gulf crisis, as is shown in media coverage of the event across the Gulf.
The Saudi press seems to be advancing a narrative in which Hatice (Khadija) Cengiz, Khashoggi's Turkish fiancée, is potentially suspicious, with Jamal's son Saleh - who has been banned from travelling for more than a year - stating that he has never met Cengiz.
The Khashoggi family also released a statement in support of Saudi government efforts to find Jamal: "We trust the government and the actions it has taken and all the efforts being made in the case of Jamal Khashoggi."
This reaction, as well as the circulation over Twitter of news stories about the murders of a Kuwaiti businessman and the leader of an Iranian opposition television channel, aim to portray Turkey as a lawless, Islamist-led country - and Khashoggi's disappearance as a consequence of that environment, rather than part of a Saudi plot.
Some commentators in Saudi Arabia and the UAE have also attempted to link Khashoggi's disappearance to a "Qatari-Turkish Islamist smear campaign", claiming that either Qatari or Turkish leaderships would have better information about Khashoggi's location than the Saudis in whose consulate he was last seen.
On the Qatari media side of the rift, the report from Turkish police about Khashoggi's death continues to be circulated, as well as concern about assaults on free speech in Saudi Arabia.
(A P)
Did the Saudi government kill #Khashoggi?
1-There are many Saudi dissidents around the world why him?
2-Many dissidents have returned home to Saudi Arabia with no repercussions.
3-Why kill him in the #Saudi embassy in #Istanbul? Saudi government could pay a mafia to do the job and make it look like he committed suicide, or he was being robbed on the street.
4-Out of good faith the Saudi government has allowed the media to search for Khashoggi inside the embassy in Istanbul.
5-Why is this happening in Istanbul? Because #SaudiArabia’s enemies are #Qatar and #Iran while #Turkey is a very close ally to those last 2 who are framing Saudi to make the world stand against a potential war with Iran and revive the Ottoman Empire.
6-The #MuslimBrotherood, designated by Saudi Arabia and UAE as a terrorist organization, which almost all Muslim organizations including CAIR and ISNA are part of.
7-Turkey and Qatar have also brought in a fake fiancé to build the momentum for the final official announcement of accusing the Saudi government of Murdering Khashoggi.
https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1049062777787174913.html
(A P)
WATCH: Who are the 15 Saudi tourists falsely accused of killing Khashoggi?
A new scenario emerged around the disappearance of the Saudi national Jamal Khashoggi. Leaked by Turkish and Qatari media, the scenario was quickly proven wrong, after it falsely accused Saudi tourists who were in Istanbul’s Ataturk airport with being the crew of a private Saudi jet that was linked to Khashoggi’s disappearance in Istanbul.
Through their official news agency, Turkish security authorities had announced on Tuesday, October 9, that the Saudi jet underwent thorough inspection prior to its departure, and there was no evidence or even suspicion around its relation to Khashoggi’s disappearance (with film)
(A P)
#Khashoggi case is a dangerous development. I can see the hands of Iranian regime hard at work to drive a wedge between USA and KSA while it is setting the Middle East on fire. Yet another clear sign for the White House that this regime will not go gently into that good night.
https://twitter.com/rezaparchizadeh/status/1050244442182037504
My comment: An Iranian plot?? LOL.
(A P)
Film: The Jamal Khashoggi disappearance: An orchestrated campaign?
Many observers warned over an orchestrated campaign to use the incident to target the Saudi government.
(* A P)
Jamal Khashoggi mystery: Deleted tweets, unnamed ‘sources’ and fake funeral
Media outlets continue to rehash news reports claiming that missing Saudi writer Jamal Khashoggi has been killed inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, despite statements from Turkish President Recep Tayib Erdogan himself, who refuted the claims and said he is hopeful the writer will emerge unharmed.
The question really is, how did international media outlets fall prey for the initially weakly-sourced news report, and another false report that was later deleted, as well as citing an unknown woman?
“The night of the deleted tweets,” as many observers have termed it online, seems to explain it all.
Prior to last Friday, media outlets affiliated with the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood and Qatar carried a news report that claimed that Saudi Arabia had detained Khashoggi inside its consulate in Istanbul.
The Saudi Crown Prince refuted the claims later in an interview during which he said Turkey can search the kingdom’s consulate in Istanbul for the Saudi journalist, saying: “We have nothing to hide”.
Hence, Reuters published an "Exclusive report" that cited a theory, and weak, unnamed sources claiming that Turkish police believe Saudi journalist Khashoggi was killed in consulate.
In fact, Reuters did not provide any additional information about these sources.
At around 12:51 Friday-Saturday night, the news report appeared in a very synchronized manner on media outlets affiliated with Qatar and all social media accounts belonging to the Muslim Brotherhood, which some of them operate from Turkey.
My comment: Oupps, the bad Qatari media spreading fake news. LOL…
(A P)
Al-Jazeera distances itself from Khashoggi death claims, blames Reuters
Qatari broadcaster Al-Jazeera has distanced itself from a news item speculating that Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi was murdered while visiting the Saudi consulate in Turkey.
Al-Jazeera Arabic, which had repeated the Reuters story extensively, has acknowledged the claims to be unverified and instead blamed newswire Reuters for the information.
The Reuters story cited only Turkish sources without naming them or providing any substantial evidence to support Khashoggi’s death claims.
http://www.arabnews.com/node/1384411/media
My comment: Saudi media on Oct. 8, simply outdated 3 days later…
(A P)
I opposed Saudi govt for 20 years and was never threatened, says former critic
Dr. Kassab Al-Otaibi, a former opposition figure of the Saudi government, has spoken on the Jamal Khashoggi case and told Al Arabiya.net that he opposed the Saudi government for more than two decades and was never threatened.
“My journey in opposing the Saudi government lasted for more than 22 years in London, and I was never threatened,” Otaibi told Al Arabiya.net.
“Inciting the case of journalist Jamal Khashoggi only serves an agenda that’s hostile to Saudi Arabia, and what’s happening is a disgusting and vile politicization by media channels and figures affiliated with (this agenda),” he added.
My comment: LOL. This is nice propaganda. Many others actually had been threatened – and much more than just “threatened”. Read https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/Saudi-Arabia-long-and-dark-history-abductions-1848677102
And pro-Saudi propagandist Thomas Friedman now is wavering around, still justifying his twisted propaganda:
(A P)
Praying for Jamal Khashoggi
Saudi Arabia stands accused of killing him. If it did, it will be a disaster for the regime of Mohammed bin Salman.
As the year went on, Jamal came to believe that M.B.S.’s dark side was completely taking over. When we last spoke in August — thanks to a chance encounter at 17th and K Streets in Washington — he told me that he was getting married to a Turkish woman, and could not go back to Saudi Arabia right now and that I must ring an alarm bell about the increasingly harsh crackdowns and the arrests of critics — left, right and center — in Saudi Arabia by M.B.S.
I went on to explain that I never believed that democracy was on the M.B.S. agenda — he was not trying to create Denmark — but that social, economic and, most important, religious reforms were. And the latter to me was the most important, but it depended on the first two moving forward.
It was obvious, though, I added, that in recent months M.B.S. had undertaken a series of ill-considered steps that were hurting him, Saudi Arabia and us.
The future stability of Saudi Arabia and the whole Arab Gulf depends on the reform process in Saudi succeeding.
If Jamal has been abducted or murdered by agents of the Saudi government, it will be a disaster for M.B.S. and a tragedy for Saudi Arabia and all the Arab Gulf countries. It would be an unfathomable violation of norms of human decency, worse not in numbers but in principle than even the Yemen war. What Western leader, and how many Western investors, will want to stand alongside M.B.S. if it is proved that his government abducted or murdered Jamal? (And the truth will come out.)
So I am praying for Jamal. Every country needs its constructive critics – by Thomas L. Friedman
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/08/opinion/jamal-khashoggi-missing-saudi-journalist.html
My comment: Just shut up. You also should have shut up before, instead of writing pro-Saudi propaganda columns which reinforced Prince Salman to believe that the West is lying at his feet and he could do whatever he wants. This would have been much better than now of praying for Khashoggi. Might be Khashoggi still would be alive if there would have been less propaganda hymns as your ones.
Comment: This is literally just a column about Tom Friedman
https://twitter.com/erinmcunningham/status/1049585788864917506
cp07 Rückblick auf Khashoggi / Looking back to Khashoggi
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From travels with bin Laden to sparring with princes: Jamal Khashoggi’s provocative journey
For those views, reported in The Washington Post and articulated in tweets and at a Washington think tank, he was ordered by the Saudi authorities to stop writing and speaking publicly, unleashing a chain of events that may have culminated in his disappearance and possible death inside Saudi Arabia’s Consulate in Istanbul last week.
There are now fears that his opinions could have cost him his life, or at least his freedom.
Khashoggi, a cousin of the late billionaire arms dealer Adnan Khashoggi, can’t be counted as a true dissident, friends and colleagues say. They note that he has not opposed the monarchy, called for regime change or even urged the replacement of Mohammed, the architect of Saudi Arabia’s attempt to introduce greater social and economic reforms, as well as its harsh crackdown on political freedoms.
But any one of his columns for The Post critiquing Mohammed’s methods could have made Khashoggi a target of the royal family’s wrath, at a time when Saudi women who welcomed the prince’s reforms have been imprisoned for daring to ask for further changes.
His columns — some of which, including this one, were translated by The Post into Arabic — served to increase his visibility and also, it is likely, the fury of the Saudi royal family, said Hisham Melhem, a Washington-based colleague of Khashoggi’s who used to host a political talk show on the Saudi-owned Al Arabiya network.
“He is prominent because of the platform The Washington Post provides him,” he said. “Other critics don’t have this kind of platform, and they were very angry with him in Saudi Arabia.”
Fred Hiatt, editorial page editor of The Post, said Khashoggi knew he was taking a risk by criticizing the Saudi government, even though he was abroad.
“But he felt an obligation to speak out when so many of his countrymen were being jailed or muzzled. As an experienced, highly knowledgeable journalist with a point of view, he was a natural fit to our roster of Global Opinion columnists, and we have been proud to publish his work,” Hiatt said.
Even while denying Saudi involvement in his disappearance, Saudi government supporters on Twitter have sought to denigrate Khashoggi not as a government critic but a supporter of the Muslim Brotherhood, an Islamist movement once tolerated but now outlawed in Saudi Arabia as a terrorist organization.
The charge dates back to the earliest days of his career, when he was a reporter covering the war in Afghanistan in the 1980s and 1990s, including the rise of then-little-known Osama bin Laden.
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These columns allegedly spurred Saudi Arabia to kill journalist Jamal Khashoggi
The following are excerpts from some of Khashoggi’s Washington Post columns.
Sept. 18, 2017: “Saudi Arabia wasn’t always this repressive. Now it’s unbearable.”
It was painful for me several years ago when several friends were arrested. I said nothing. I didn’t want to lose my job or my freedom. I worried about my family.
I have made a different choice now. I have left my home, my family and my job, and I am raising my voice. To do otherwise would betray those who languish in prison. I can speak when so many cannot. I want you to know that Saudi Arabia has not always been as it is now. We Saudis deserve better.
November 5: “Saudi Arabia’s crown prince is acting like Putin”
So is the 32-year-old crown prince more like Russia’s Mikhail Gorbachev or Vladimir Putin in this effort? Is he on a path to truly reform the entire system? Or is he simply seizing upon well-known figures to further centralize power in his own hands?
As of now, I would say Mohammed bin Salman is acting like Putin. He is imposing very selective justice. The crackdown on even the most constructive criticism — the demand for complete loyalty with a significant “or else” — remains a serious challenge to the crown prince’s desire to be seen as a modern, enlightened leader.
Feb. 7: “Saudi Arabia’s crown prince already controlled the nation’s media. Now he’s squeezing it even further”
Sept. 11: “Saudi Arabia’s crown prince must restore dignity to his country — by ending Yemen’s cruel war”
https://qz.com/1416307/khashoggis-columns-allegedly-spurred-saudi-arabia-to-murder-him/
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Missing Saudi journalist once a voice of reform in kingdom
Jamal Khashoggi, the Saudi journalist who disappeared last week after a visit to his country’s consulate in Turkey, was once a Saudi insider. A close aide to the kingdom’s former spy chief, he had been a leading voice in the country’s prominent dailies, including the main English newspapers.
Now the 59-year-old journalist and contributor to The Washington Post is feared dead, and Turkish authorities believe he was slain inside the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul, something Saudi officials vehemently deny.
The U.S.-educated Khashoggi was no stranger to controversy.
Khashoggi rubbed shoulders with the Saudi royal family and supported efforts to nudge the kingdom’s entrenched ultra-conservative clerics to accept reforms. He served as an editor for nine years on the Islamist-leaning al-Madina newspaper and was frequently quoted in the Western media as an expert on Islamic radicals and a reformist voice.
However, he was fired from his post as an editor at Al-Watan, a liberal paper founded after the 9/11 terror attacks, just two months after he took the job in 2003. The country’s ultra-conservative clerics had pushed back against his criticism of the powerful religious police and Ibn Taymiyah, a medieval cleric viewed as the spiritual forefather of Wahhabism, the conservative interpretation of Islam that is the founding tenant of the kingdom.
Khoshaggi then served as media adviser to Al-Faisal, the former spy chief, who was at the time the ambassador to the United States.
Khashoggi returned to Al-Watan in 2007, where he continued his criticism of the clerics as the late King Abdullah implemented cautious reforms to try to shake their hold. Three years later, he was forced to resign again after a series of articles criticizing Salafism, the ultra-conservative Sunni Islam movement from which Wahhabism stems.
In 2010, Saudi billionaire Alwaleed bin Talal tapped him to lead his new TV station, touted as a rival to Qatari-funded Al-Jazeera, a staunch critic of the kingdom. But the new Al-Arab station, based in Bahrain, was shut down hours after it launched, for hosting a Bahraini opposition figure.
Khoshaggi’s final break with the Saudi authorities followed the Arab Spring protests that swept through the region in 2011, shaking the power base of traditional leaders and giving rise to Islamists, only to be followed by unprecedented crackdowns on those calling for change. Siding with the opposition in Egypt and Syria, Khashoggi became a vocal critic of his own government’s stance there and a defender of moderate Islamists, which Riyadh considered an existential threat.
“This was a critical period in Arab history. I had to take a position. The Arab world had waited for this moment of freedom for a thousand years,” Khashoggi told a Turkey-based Syrian opposition television station last month, just days before he disappeared.
He also criticized his government’s diplomatic break with Qatar and war on Yemen as well as Riyadh’s policy toward its archenemy, Iran, whose influence has grown in neighboring Yemen and in Syria.
https://apnews.com/9c674ba093b84b95b6086e898230c850
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Khashoggi: Saudi Arabia can never be a democracy 'on MBS watch'
Self-exiled Saudi journalist says Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman will never open the kingdom for democracy.
Speaking to Al Jazeera in the programme UpFront, Jamal Khashoggi - currently self-exiled in the US - said that there was no space for debate in Saudi Arabia with intellectuals and journalists jailed for questioning policies.
"As we speak today, there [are] Saudi intellectuals and journalists jailed. Now, nobody will dare to speak and criticise the reforms [initiated by the crown prince]," he said, adding that "it would be much better for him to allow a breathing space for critics, for Saudi intellectuals, Saudi writers, Saudi media to debate."
Asked whether Saudi Arabia could ever become democratic under bin Salman, popularly known in the West as MBS, Khashoggi said: "Not on his watch. I haven't heard him make even the slightest inference that he would open the country for power-sharing, for democracy."
as a reminder: Khashoggi on Yemen, Sept. 2018: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/global-opinions/wp/2018/09/11/saudi-arabias-crown-prince-must-restore-dignity-to-his-country-by-ending-yemens-cruel-war/
Khashoggi on Saudi crown prince, March 2018:
Comment: I was really Impressed with this article in the Guardian in March this year. I was truly shocked to find that the journalist who wrote such an insightful piece has been disappeared and probably killed. This is well worth a read.
https://www.facebook.com/judith.brown.794628/posts/10157061831743641
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