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Ankara (AFP) – The body of Saudi journalist and critic Jamal Khashoggi was "dissolved" after his assassination and dismemberment at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul a month ago, according to a Turkish official.
The claim echoed details that a Turkish official had previously communicated to the Washington Post – for which Khashoggi was a contributor – that the authorities were investigating a theory that the body was destroyed with acid.
The assassination of the royal insider turned dissident has caused a widespread scandal against Riyadh and fueled an international debate over arms shipments to Saudi Arabia, a key ally of Washington against the 39; Iran.
"We now see that it was not just about breaking up, they got rid of the body by dissolving it," Yasin Aktay, head of Turkey's ruling party, told Hurriyet newspaper in a statement. an article published on Friday.
"According to the latest information we have, the body was cut off because it was easier to dissolve it," said Aktay, adviser to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, close to Khashoggi.
"They aimed to ensure that no sign of the body was left behind."
The Turkish public prosecutor confirmed Wednesday for the first time that Khashoggi was strangled as soon as he entered the consulate on October 2 as part of a planned attack. His body was then dismembered and destroyed.
– "Brutal, barbaric and ruthless" –
The Turkish official quoted by the Washington Post said that "biological evidence" found in the consulate's garden indicated that the body had probably been deposited near the place of Khashoggi's death.
Saudi authorities denied Turkish police permission to search a well in the consulate's garden, but allowed them to take water samples for analysis, local media reports said .
US State Department spokesman Robert Palladino called on Thursday to strip Khashoggi's body and return it to his family for burial as soon as possible.
Khashoggi's fiancée, Hatice Cengiz, who was waiting in front of the consulate while the journalist was entering to obtain documents attesting to their marriage, said that what was inflicted on her body was "brutal, barbaric and ruthless".
"It is now up to the international community to bring those responsible to justice – of all nations, the United States should show the example," said Cengiz in an article published Friday in the Washington Post, The Guardian, and Other media.
"The Trump administration has adopted a position devoid of any moral foundation," she wrote, adding that "there will be no concealment".
The assassination undermined the decades-old alliance between the United States and Saudi Arabia and tarnished the image of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, de facto leader of the ultra-conservative kingdom.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said sanctions would soon be imposed on officials.
"It will probably take us a few more weeks before we have enough evidence to actually implement these sanctions, but I think we can do it," he said on Thursday, adding that President Donald Trump had promised to be accountable to everyone involved in the "heinous crime".
Trump called the case "one of the worst hiding in history," but warned that stopping an agreement on Saudi weapons would hurt the government. American job.
– Saudi Arabia must remain stable & # 39; –
Germany and Switzerland have promised to end arms sales in Saudi Arabia until the case is clarified.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whose country shares Riyadh's hostility to Iran, stressed the need to stabilize Saudi Arabia while condemning the killing.
"It is very important for the stability of the world, for the region and for the world, that Saudi Arabia remains stable," Netanyahu told reporters during a visit to Bulgaria.
After initially insisting that Khashoggi leave the consulate unscathed, and then claiming that he had died as a result of a brawl during a failed interview, the Saudi regime acknowledged that He had been killed by a "rogue operation" and arrested 18 people.
Erdogan requested that the 18 suspects – including the alleged group of 15 people who had gone to Istanbul and left on the same day – be extradited for trial in Turkey.
Prince Mohammad bin Salman, who is positioning himself as a Saudi reformer, described the killing as "disgusting" and strongly denied any involvement.
In his article, Cengiz pointed out that the anniversary day of Khashoggi's death had fallen on the occasion of the International Day of the UN to end the impunity of crimes against journalists.
"We must all send a clear message that authoritarian regimes will never be able to kill journalists again," she said.
burs-raz / pma
