Saudi Arabia Has Gone Too Far This Time! WashPo Journalist Captured in Consulate, Sawed Into Pieces!

It's an international scandal - it seems that a Washington Post journalist, went to the consulate general of Saudi Arabia in Istanbul, and was dismembered there. Given the growing suspicions, US President Trump has to react some way, but as it turned out, big money from the Saudis doesn't allow him to.

It's an international scandal — it seems that a Washington Post journalist, went to the consulate general of Saudi Arabia in Istanbul, and was dismembered there. Given the growing suspicions, US President Trump has to react some way, but as it turned out, big money from the Saudis doesn't allow him to.

Our correspondent Anton Lyadov carried out his own investigation of the sinister case.

 

The famous green flag with a silver sword — it's the consulate of Saudi Arabia, located in the most prestigious neighborhood of ​​Istanbul. At 1:14 pm, journalist Jamal Khashoggi entered the door under the white canopy. He needed to get a document to get a divorce and enter into a new marriage. His bride waited for him right here. An hour passed, then another, and another, but no one came. After five hours, a security guard came to her and said that Jamal had left and she shouldn't wait for him. Since then, no one has seen the journalist.

This is one of their last photos together. His bride, Hatice Cengiz, has the journalist's cellphone. On his wrist, Jamal had an Apple Watch, which could record everything that happened inside.

Hatice Cengiz: "He was nervous, but we didn't expect anything like that. He gave me contacts and told me how to behave, whom to call. I cannot give the details".

The details that Jamal's bride doesn't want to disclose are, most likely, audio recordings of what happened inside. Khashoggi's watch was synchronized with his phone and could record everything via the built-in microphone. This was reported by Turkish law enforcement. The records could be saved in the cloud, but so far the Turkish authorities have been keeping them secret. Jamal left two phone numbers to his bride in case he didn't leave the consulate: the numbers of advisor to Turkish President Erdogan Yasin Aktai and Turan Kislakci, close friends of the missing Jamal. They worked together in this office.

Turan Kislakci: He was here 3-5 days ago.

- Before he disappeared?

- Yes, in this room. He came to me, we were preparing a seminar for him, which should've taken place this week.

Jamal was repeatedly warned that it could be dangerous for him to go to the Saudi consulate. He was perhaps the most famous critic of the Saudi authorities. While he lived in his homeland, he was repeatedly cautioned, advised to stop writing on Twitter, where he had more than a million followers. His relatives were arrested several times. Here's a fragment of his interview one year ago.

Jamal Khashoggi: "I wish I could go home but the environment is too unfavorable for me, as well as for other independent journalists and economists".

Khashoggi was not just a journalist. His uncle, Adnan Khashoggi, was a world-famous arms dealer. In the 80s, he was considered one of the richest people on the planet. In 1988, Adnan Khashoggi sold his 281-foot yacht, the Nabila, to Donald Trump, who renamed her Trump Princess and sailed her at sea until 1991. Even Freddie Mercury sang about Khashoggi's boat — the famous Queen song "Khashoggi’s Ship". The surname of Khashoggi became a byword for luxury: people were saying "to be rich like Khashoggi".

A cousin of the missing journalist Jamal was the famous Dodi Fayed, who, according to the press, had an affair with Princess Diana and died with her in the car accident.

In addition, the missing journalist Jamal knew Osama bin Laden when he was a child while the future leader of Al-Qaeda lived in Saudi Arabia. Jamal published an interview with him while bin Laden was still unknown to everyone. According to the BBC, in the past, Jamal even shared the views of Bin Laden, considering it possible to use cruelty to "liberate the Arab countries from corrupt regimes." His views changed but he never ceased criticizing Saudi authorities.

Turan Kislakci: "Let's take the Saudi policy in Yemen. At first, he supported it. But when people started dying, he went against it. But it doesn't make him an enemy. On the contrary, he wanted everything to be fine. He was a friend of Salman, although their views didn't line up".

Four days before the disappearance, Jamal had already arrived at the consulate. He was treated politely and was told that due to bureaucratic steps, he would have to come back.

A day before the scheduled visit, two private planes from Saudi Arabia landed in Istanbul. 15 people were on board. Nine of them checked into a five-star hotel that is just a 10-minute walk from the consulate-general of Saudi Arabia. These people have already been identified. Among them are intelligence colonel Maher Abdelaziz Mutrep, the head of the Saudi Security Department of Forensic Investigation, and an air force colonel. A few hours before Jamal's disappearance cameras recorded that part of this team left this main entrance.

Here's footage from surveillance cameras. 40 minutes after Jamal entered, suspicious activity began outside. Cars were entering and leaving. None of the cameras recorded Jamal leaving the consulate on his own. But from the air, it can be seen that there are at least two more exits from the compound. Soon afterward, a series of cars was caught by the cameras. Six cars drove out of this gate of the consulate. Before, boxes were seen being loaded into them, but they weren't big enough to fit a human body. The Turkish authorities think the journalist was dismembered in the territory of the consulate and taken out in a black van.

"According to the source, it was a swift and complex operation, as a result of which Mr. Khashoggi was killed by a team of special agents from Saudi Arabia within two hours of arriving at the consulate. His body was dismembered with a surgical saw, which was prepared in advance".

This is information which makes the blood freeze. Given that Khashoggi lived and worked in the United States and had a residence permit, a group of US senators has demanded that Trump punish Saudi Arabia.

- Will Washington impose sanctions on the Saudis?

Donald Trump: We’re going to have to see what happens. We're working on it. I don’t like stopping massive amounts of money that’s being poured into our country. They’re spending $110 billion on military equipment and on things that create jobs for this country. I don’t like the concept of stopping an investment of $110 billion into the United States. Because you know what they’re going to do? They’re going to take that money and spend it in Russia or China.

Mustafa Kemal Erdemol, Cumhuriyet: "This is called hypocrisy, a double standard. The reason is that Saudi Arabia is investing so much money into the US. They won't spoil the relationship because of Jamal".

Despite the fact that the whole team arrived in Istanbul on two private planes from Saudi Arabia and had their rooms booked for three days, they left the next day. Around the same time, the journalist went missing. Within a few hours, both planes took off from here, at Atatürk Airport. It's known that one of them flew through Egypt, and the other flew through the United Arab Emirates, but both landed in the capital of Saudi Arabia. Now it is known that only one of the planes was inspected here.

A theory has appeared that Jamal's bride could be one of those who helped lure him to the consulate. The theory has yet to be verified. Donald Trump has already invited her to a meeting at the White House. He now has to report on the issue almost every day.

Donald Trump: "She actually wrote a beautiful letter to myself and the first lady. We're working on it and have invited her here. We’ve all heard a lot about the audio. Nobody has seen it yet, so we do want to see it. And we will very soon".

Donald Trump promised to contact the King of Saudi Arabia in the near future and discuss the disappearance of Jamal the journalist by phone. But, apparently, this is only the beginning of a big political scandal.

Anton Lyadov, Aytaj Dzhachiyeva, Igor Nikulin, Alexey Yaldin, Denis Lisitsin, Vsevolod Sychev, Vesti Nedeli.