Saudi forensic specialist suspected to have played a role in the death of Jamal Khashoggi reportedly told people to listen to music as he dismembered his body
- Turkish officials reportedly offered gruesome details to support their conclusion that Jamal Khashoggi, the Washington Post columnist who disappeared after visiting a Saudi consulate in Istanbul, Turkey, was killed.
- Officials reportedly said they shared details of an audio recording with the US and Saudi Arabia. The recording is said to illustrate that Khashoggi was beaten, drugged, and eventually killed in the Saudi consul general's office, The Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday.
- Based on details of the recording, a Saudi suspected to have played a role in the alleged killing recommended that people nearby should listen to music as he dismembered Khashoggi's body.
Turkish officials reportedly offered gruesome details to support their conclusion that Jamal Khashoggi, the Washington Post columnist who disappeared after visiting a Saudi Consulate in Istanbul, Turkey, was drugged, killed, and dismembered, contradicting earlier denials from Saudi Arabia.
The officials claimed to have shared details of an audio recording with the US and Saudi Arabia as an investigation continues, The Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday.
Contents of the recording are said to show that Khashoggi was killed minutes after entering the consulate on October 2, according to The Journal's sources. Contrary to reports of Saudi Arabia's assertion that "rouge killers" botched an interrogation operation, the sources said Khashoggi was not interrogated, and instead, was brutally killed.
Sources claimed that Khashoggi was beaten, drugged, and eventually killed in the Saudi consul general's office. During the incident, a voice from the recording reportedly suggested the consul to leave the room, and later, a forensic specialist suspected to have played a role in the alleged incident recommended that people nearby should listen to music as he dismembered Khashoggi's body.
Other reports from Al Jazeera and pro-Turkish news outlets appeared to corroborate the report's accounts, including the identity of the forensic specialist, Salah Al Tabiqi. The head of Forensic Evidence at the Saudi General Security Department was reportedly one of the 15 alleged suspects who flew from the Saudi capital of Riyadh on the day of Khashoggi's disappearance, and visited the consulate before leaving the country within hours.
Khashhoggi's disappearance has created a flurry of criticism against Saudi Arabia and the Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who was seen by some as a populist reformer. Khashoggi, a Saudi native who resided in Virginia, was an outspoken critic of his country and the prince, and reportedly feared for his safety before his disappearance.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo visited Saudi Arabia this week and said he had "candid conversations" with the Saudi leadership. According to Pompeo, the Saudis "strongly denied" having prior knowledge of whatever took place in the consulate and pledged to conduct a "thorough, transparent, and timely investigation."