It’s been almost three months since Jamal Khashoggi entered into the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul only to never come out again. Despite being committed at the heart of one of the biggest metropoles in the world and inside a diplomatic mission on top of that, the murder of this U.S.-based Saudi journalist had quickly gained a reputation for being one of the most brutal and mysterious crimes in recent history.
Although this hideous incident initially dropped like a bombshell with hundreds of questions, most of these unanswered mysteries have gradually been uncovered.
A recent book on the issue, however, sheds even more light over the crime, revealing new details that help us get a clearer picture of the events that lead to the dissident journalist’s murder and what transpired afterward. “Diplomatic Atrocity: The dark secrets of the Khashoggi murder,” a book that is about to be released by the intelligence service of Turkey’s Sabah newspaper, presents itself as a reliable source for those who are interested in the issue, while revealing brand new details. Some of the most striking new details are the revelation of the two new identities who were the members of the so-called “hit squad” and new audio recordings that give information both before and after the murder, proving that the crime was premeditated and committed in cold blood.
Two new faces in the Saudi hit squad revealed
Until now, all we know was the fact that the squad consisted of 15 members whose identities have already been uncovered and three others that helped, as mentioned by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
Although the identity of one of this “plus three” was already revealed by the Sabah as Ahmed Abdullah A. el-Muzeyni, who is known to be the Istanbul chief of Saudi intelligence, the other two individual’s identities kept their mystery until now.
The first name to be revealed is Saad Muid el-Karni, a security guard at the consulate who is actually a member of the Saudi intelligence. The other member of the squad was also working as a security guard at the consulate while he was actually a member of the intelligence service and his name was Müflis Şaya M. el-Muslih. Just like el-Muzeyni, these two people were also using a diplomatic passport. However, they were not included at the 7.5 minute long voice recording of the last minutes of Khashoggi that was shared with several countries and intelligence agencies.
Khashoggi, a columnist for The Washington Post and a critic of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, also known as MBS, was reported missing by his fiancee Hatice Cengiz after entering the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul to obtain marriage documents on Oct. 2.
In November, the audio recording of the moments Khashoggi was killed was reportedly given to Saudi Arabia, the U.S., France, Canada, Germany and the U.K. Director of U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) Gina Haspel also listened to the “compelling” audio tape of the brutal killing on late October in Ankara.
The reason behind their absence from the recording was the fact that they were not leading the execution team but the exploration team which was responsible from getting rid of the body and thus explored various places in Istanbul, arriving in the city a day before the hit squad.
7.5 minute-long recording only a fragment of whole
The 7.5 minute-long voice recording, on the other hand, was mostly revolving around the talk of Maher Abdulaziz M. Mutreb, the leader of the execution squad, and Salah Muhammed A Tubaigy, the toxicologist who was responsible from handling Khashoggi’s dead body by cutting it into the pieces.
After weeks of shifting official narratives, Saudi Arabia has said the journalist was killed by a “rogue operation” and arrested 18 people allegedly connected to his death. On the same day of Khashoggi’s disappearance, 15 other Saudis, many of them Saudi intelligence operatives, arrived in Istanbul and visited the consulate at the same time of the disappearance. All of the identified individuals have since left Turkey and were later arrested by Saudi authorities, including Mutrib and Tubaigy.
The book mentions of a secret source who spoke to the writers of the book under the premise of anonymity. This source states that although Tubaigy was reported to be detained, he is actually living at a villa house in Jeddah with his family. The source said that Saudi officials told Tubaigy not to be “in the limelight,” implying that not only Tubaigy bot also others who were supposed to be detained are not actually under arrest but only pursue a secluded life.
Turkish officials have repeatedly suggested that the murder trial be held in Turkey where the crime was committed. Saudi authorities have denied Turkey’s requests and said the suspects will be tried in the kingdom.
