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Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi at a press conference in Manama (Bahrain) in December 2014 (Hasan Jamali / AP)
ISTANBUL – Turkish investigators focus their research on the body of journalist Jamal Khashoggi on an isolated farm in south-east Istanbul, based on new reports that a Saudi agent involved in Khashoggi's death has reportedly called the owner of the property. closes the day before the murder, said a Turkish official on the investigation said Sunday.
Turkish officials had previously identified Mansour Othman M. Abahussain, who had launched the appeal, as a member of a 15-person Saudi team that allegedly killed and dismembered Khashoggi shortly after the journalist's entry in the consulate of Saudi Arabia in Istanbul, October 2.
On October 1, Abahussain "made a call on his personal cellphone" to the owner of a large farm located in a rural area near Yalova on the coast of the Sea of Marmara, according to an official who allegedly quoted a confidential investigation report. . The report identified the farm owner as a Saudi national but did not specify what had been discussed, according to the official who had requested anonymity to disclose the details of the ongoing investigation.
It remains to be seen whether this new information will contribute to Turkey's search for Khashoggi's remains, which could provide crucial information on how he was killed. Turkey and Saudi Arabia said that Khashoggi, a Washington Post contributor who had criticized Saudi leaders, had been killed by the team of Saudi agents at the consulate. But they were sharply at odds over the events that led to his death.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the murder was premeditated and that it had been ordered by the "highest levels" of the Saudi government. Turkish officials explained in detail what they thought was Saudi Arabia's planning – including tracking down where Khashoggi's body could be thrown – as well as the many attempts by Saudi agents to conceal the crime.
According to intelligence officials in several Western countries, the killing would likely have occurred with the permission or knowledge of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the de facto ruler of the kingdom.
Saudi prosecutors denied that Muhammad was aware of the killing and described it as a dishonest operation carried out by agents who disobeyed official orders to persuade Khashoggi to force or force that one. to return to Saudi Arabia. And prosecutors said they did not know where the remains of Khashoggi are, saying the Saudi agents had handed over his body to a local "collaborator."
Prosecutors did not name the collaborator or publicly publish a sketch that would have been made in his image. Turkish officials said that they strongly suspected that there was no such person.
Police had already searched areas in Yalova and around Istanbul, including the consulate of Saudi Arabia, the nearby residence of the Saudi consul general and a forest on the outskirts of the city. While Khashoggi's children have made emotional appeals for the return of their father's body, Turkish officials have accused Saudi Arabia of retaining information that could facilitate searches.
Abahussain was one of 17 Saudi nationals sentenced this month by the US Treasury Department for their role in the killing. A press article published four years ago described a man with the same name as a lieutenant-colonel of the Saudi civil defense. A popular appellant identification application had identified Abahussain as working in intelligence.
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