Turkish police, after initiating their search of the Saudi diplomatic compound on Saturday, unexpectedly reached the following shocking conclusion, according toThe Washington Post: Turkey has concluded that Jamal Khashoggi, a prominent journalist from Saudi Arabia, was killed in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul earlier this week by a Saudi team sent “specifically for the murder,” two people with knowledge of the probe said Saturday.
Likely this will set off a major diplomatic scandal between Ankara and Riyadh as no doubt the Saudis expected a clean bill of health, otherwise they would have never made such an offer to search the heavily guarded and fortified compound in the first place.
If this is true - that the Saudis lured a U.S. resident into their consulate and murdered him - it should represent a fundamental break in our relationship with Saudi Arabia.
https://t.co/hgCchEZRtJ
— Chris Murphy (@ChrisMurphyCT)
October 6, 2018 During his Friday interview with Bloomberg crown prince MBS was said to be "exuding confidence" by some observers; however, if confirmed the whole incident could threaten the future of US-Saudi relations.
Early in the day Saturday Turkey's Anadolu news agency announced the Istanbul public prosecutor's office was formally probing the disappearance, and though yet to reveal any specific evidence to back the murder charge, concluded that a 15-member team “came from Saudi Arabia. It was a preplanned murder,” according to sources privy to the investigation cited in The Washington Post.
The Post noted further of its own disappeared and allegedly murdered columnist:
Khashoggi, who writes for The Washington Post’s Global Opinions section, visited the consulate Tuesday to obtain documents related to his upcoming wedding, according to his fiancee and friends.
The killing, if confirmed, would mark a stunning escalation of Saudi Arabia’s effort to silence dissent. Under direction from the crown prince, Saudi authorities have carried out hundreds of arrests under the banner of national security, rounding up clerics, business executives and even women’s rights advocates.
Starting in 2016 Arabic media began reporting that Khashoggi had been banned by the Saudi state fromwriting in newspapers, appearing on TV and attending conferences, after a series of criticisms leveled at Donald Trump at a sensitive time when Riyadh was set to embark on a new and close relationship with the incoming US president.
Since then, the prominent journalist who had previously served as editor for the popular Arab Times and Al-Watan, increasingly became persona non grata for authorities in the kingdom.
Saudi leadership likely considered his criticisms, which have increased over the past year related to such issues as the arrests of women activists, as especially dangerous due to his speaking from within the Saudi establishment and having been an adviser to a former Saudi intelligence chief.
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More at: https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-...side-consulate
One more "good" spook. (That is not an endorsement of those who killed him)
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