Khashoggi Dismembered as Saudi Operatives Listened to Music, Report Says
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Saudi operatives were reportedly told they should listen to music as journalist Jamal Khashoggi was dismembered, an audio recording indicates, according to a new report.
The recording, which Turkish officials say prove journalist Jamal Khashoggi was murdered by a 15-man hit squad, allegedly reveals how Khashoggi was killed minutes after he walked into the Saudi Consulate building in Turkey on Oct 2, sources told The Wall Street Journal.
Khashoggi wasn’t interrogated, the sources said — instead he was beaten up, drugged and killed in the office of the Saudi consul general Mohammad al-Otaibi.
A voice can be heard on the recording inviting the consul to exit the room, the sources said.
Then, the voice of a man identified by Turkish officials as Dr. Salah al-Tubaigy, a forensic physician and “autopsy expert,” can be heard recommending other people present listen to some music while he dismembered The Washington Post contributor’s body, the sources said. It wasn’t clear if the men took his advice to play songs.
Turkish investigators conducted a nine-hour search at the consulate on Tuesday. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said parts of the building had been repainted since Khashoggi, a Saudi native who criticized the crown prince’s policies, vanished.
A Turkish official told the AP the investigators found evidence that Khashoggi had been slain, but didn’t offer details.
The Saudi consul left Turkey for the Saudi capital Riyadh Tuesday just hours after Turkish officials said they wanted to search his residence and the consulate’s fleet of vehicles, Ankara’s Foreign Ministry said.