Saudi Arabia further admitted on Thursday that the murder of Washington Post contributor and Saudi dissident Jamal Khashoggi was pre-meditated. In one foul after another, the Saudi rulers first said Khashoggi had walked out of their embassy in Istanbul on October 2, when he had gone in to get clearance papers for marriage to his US finacee. Then they walked it back saying Khashoggi died accidentally within the embassy when an argument between him and his interrogators turned into a fistfight.
These interrogators were some investigators gone rogue, they claimed, asserting that the royalty was unaware of their motives or actions in interrogating Khashoggi.
By Sunday, October 21, with mounting international pressure on crown prince Mohammed Bin Salman, the de facto ruler, and his father, King Salman bin Abdulazziz al-Saud, the kingdom finally admitted that his murder was indeed planned well in advance.
At the same time, US President Donald Trump was committing a lot of fouls in an attempt to save his middle-east strategy, which hinges on the US-Saudi relationship, not to mention a USD 110 billion arms deal between the two countries which Trump says cannot be touched, no matter the degree of Saudi's culpability in the appalling murder. First, he suggested it may have been done by some rogue elements from outside, then said they could be from within the regime, but rogue elements nevertheless.
He later changed his tune saying MBS and his father were investigating the murder and US was doing its own probe and that he didnt know if Khashoggi was indeed murdered and MBS was involved. He walked that back early this week saying he believed Khashoggi was dead and that it was 'sad'. Finally, he suggested this week that, since MBS was de factor the Saudi ruler, he has to be involved.
In the middle of all the different narratives put out on a global scale, on the one side by a panicked Saudi regime and, on the other, by Trump trying to save his "friends", Turkey has admirably been firm on its stance from day one that Khashoggi was murdered in cold blood by 15-odd operatives who flew in from Riyadh to Istanbul, with a bone saw to boot, who dismembered his body and disposed of it in different places within Istanbul. Turkish President Recip Tayyib Erdogan went so far as to demand that these 15 should be tried in Istanbul as well. He truly deserves credit for exposing a murder most foul, regardless of whether he had strong political motivations in doing so.
These interrogators were some investigators gone rogue, they claimed, asserting that the royalty was unaware of their motives or actions in interrogating Khashoggi.
By Sunday, October 21, with mounting international pressure on crown prince Mohammed Bin Salman, the de facto ruler, and his father, King Salman bin Abdulazziz al-Saud, the kingdom finally admitted that his murder was indeed planned well in advance.
At the same time, US President Donald Trump was committing a lot of fouls in an attempt to save his middle-east strategy, which hinges on the US-Saudi relationship, not to mention a USD 110 billion arms deal between the two countries which Trump says cannot be touched, no matter the degree of Saudi's culpability in the appalling murder. First, he suggested it may have been done by some rogue elements from outside, then said they could be from within the regime, but rogue elements nevertheless.
He later changed his tune saying MBS and his father were investigating the murder and US was doing its own probe and that he didnt know if Khashoggi was indeed murdered and MBS was involved. He walked that back early this week saying he believed Khashoggi was dead and that it was 'sad'. Finally, he suggested this week that, since MBS was de factor the Saudi ruler, he has to be involved.
In the middle of all the different narratives put out on a global scale, on the one side by a panicked Saudi regime and, on the other, by Trump trying to save his "friends", Turkey has admirably been firm on its stance from day one that Khashoggi was murdered in cold blood by 15-odd operatives who flew in from Riyadh to Istanbul, with a bone saw to boot, who dismembered his body and disposed of it in different places within Istanbul. Turkish President Recip Tayyib Erdogan went so far as to demand that these 15 should be tried in Istanbul as well. He truly deserves credit for exposing a murder most foul, regardless of whether he had strong political motivations in doing so.
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