Saudi Arabia ‘to admit Jamal Khashoggi death was interrogation gone wrong’

Saudi Arabia is reportedly set to acknowledge death of journalist Jamal Khashoggi was the result of an interrogation gone wrong.

Saudi Arabia is reportedly preparing a report acknowledging that the death of journalist Jamal Khashoggi was the result of an interrogation gone wrong.

Mr Khashoggi, a well known dissident, was last seen entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul two weeks ago to finalise divorce proceedings so he could marry his Turkish fiancee. Riyadh has repeatedly insisted that he left the consulate safely by a back exit but Turkish authorities claim he was possibly murdered inside the building.

CNN is reporting that the interrogation of Mr Khashoggi, a reporter for the Washington Post, was intended to lead to his abduction from Turkey and was carried out without clearance.

A declaration that Mr Khashoggi died under interrogation in an operation that went too far or was not sanctioned by the country’s leadership would be widely seen as an attempt to distance King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman from the incident.

There has been increasing suspicion that the journalist was targeted by the Saudi regime. Two jets carrying 15 Saudis landed at Ataturk Airport in Istanbul on the day he entered the consulate. The men left Turkey that night

The reports of an interrogation that went too far come as US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo flew to Saudi Arabia for talks with King Salman.

BREAKING — 2 sources tell @clarissaward and @TimListerCNN that the Saudis are preparing a report that will acknowledge Jamal Khashoggi's death was the result of an interrogation that went wrong, one that was intended to lead to his abduction from Turkey.

— Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) October 15, 2018

2/ One source: report will likely conclude that the operation was carried out without clearance and transparency and that those involved will be held responsible.

One source: report is still being prepared and cautioned that things could change.

— Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) October 15, 2018

On Monday, Turkish crime scene investigators dressed in coveralls and gloves entered the Saudi after being given permission to search the building.

Police officers carrying files and equipment walked through the heavy metal doors of the consulate after sunset. The search represents new co-operation between Turkey, which says it fears Mr Khashoggi was killed and dismembered there, and Saudi Arabia, which maintains the allegations it faces are “baseless” despite being unable to explain what happened to the journalist.

However, questions remained over how much evidence the investigators could turn up at a consulate where a cleaning crew entered hours before their arrival.

Meanwhile, Donald Trump suggested without offering evidence that “rogue killers” may have slain Mr Khashoggi, stepping further back from his pledge that Saudi Arabia would face “severe punishment” if it is found to be responsible for the columnist’s yet-to-be-determined fate.

Turkish police officers prepare to enter Saudi Arabia's Consulate in Istanbul. Picture: AP.

The Turkish team included a prosecutor, a deputy prosecutor, anti-terror police and forensic experts, the state-run Anadolu news agency reported. Certain areas of the consulate were to remain off-limits, although officials would be able to inspect surveillance cameras within the post, Turkish media reported.

Turkish officials have wanted to search the consulate for days. Permission apparently came after a late Sunday night call between Saudi King Salman and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. In statements after the call, both praised the creation of a joint Saudi-Turkish probe about Mr Khashoggi.

The Saudi acceptance came after the kingdom on Sunday threatened retaliation for any sanctions it could face over the writer’s disappearance. The statement did not elaborate, but a Saudi-owned satellite channel later suggested the world’s largest oil exporter could wield that production as a weapon against America.

Germany, France and Britain also jointly called for a “credible investigation.”

What evidence Turkish officials could gather at the consulate remained unknown. Saudi officials have been in and out of the building since Mr Khashoggi’s disappearance.

Earlier on Monday, a cleaning crew with mops, trash bags and what appeared to be bottles of bleach walked in past waiting journalists.

Forensics tests like spraying luminol, a chemical mixture, can expose blood left behind, said Mechthild Prinz, an associate professor at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice who previously worked at the New York City’s Office of the Chief Medical Examiner.

“It depends on how well they cleaned it up,” Mr Prinz told The Associated Press. “Obviously, you don’t want anybody to have a chance to clean it up, but very often people do miss blood.” Told that a cleaning crew walked into the consulate before the team arrived, she said: “You saw that? Wow. That’s going to be a problem.”

Mr Trump tweeted on Monday that he had spoken with the Saudi king, “who denies any knowledge” of what happened to Khashoggi.

“He said that they are working closely with Turkey to find answer,” Mr Trump wrote. “I am immediately sending our Secretary of State (Mike Pompeo) to meet with King!”

He also seemed to offer another theory for a crime allegedly carried out at the Saudi diplomatic post.

“It sounded to me like maybe these could have been rogue killers. I mean, who knows?” Mr Trump told journalists. “We’re going to try getting to the bottom of it very soon, but (King Salman’s) was a flat denial.”

Mr Khashoggi has written extensively for the Post about Saudi Arabia, criticising its war in Yemen, its recent diplomatic spat with Canada and its arrest of women’s rights activists after the lifting of a driving ban for women. His disappearance has led several business leaders and media outlets to back out of a major investment conference in Riyadh, called the Future Investment Initiative.

They include the CEO of Uber, a company in which Saudi Arabia has invested billions of dollars; billionaire Richard Branson; JPMorgan Chase & Co. Chief Executive Jamie Dimon; and Ford Motor Co. Executive Chairman Bill Ford.

Saudi media took a hard line Monday, with newspaper headlines warning: “Don’t Test Our Patience.”

The Arab News published a front-page editorial by Dubai-based real-estate tycoon Khalaf al-Habtoor that urged Gulf Arab nations to boycott international firms now backing out of the investment conference later this month.

“Together we must prove we will not be bullied or else, mark my words, once they have finished kicking the kingdom, we will be next in line,” Mr al-Habtoor said.

AP