*ANKARA – The body of journalist Jamal Khashoggi was “dissolved” after hewas murdered and dismembered in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul a monthago, an advisor to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Friday.*
The claim echoed what a Turkish official had told the Washington Post — forwhich Khashoggi was a contributor — that authorities are investigating atheory the body was destroyed in acid.
“We now see that it wasn’t just cut up, they got rid of the body bydissolving it,” Yasin Aktay, an advisor to Erdogan and official in Turkey’sruling party, told the Hurriyet newspaper on Friday.
“According to the latest information we have, the reason they cut up thebody is it was easier to dissolve it,” Aktay said.
Saudi Arabia has faced a torrent of international condemnation over thekilling of the royal insider-turned-critic.
Turkey’s chief prosecutor on Wednesday confirmed for the first time thatKhashoggi was strangled as soon as he entered the consulate on October 2 aspart of a planned hit, and his body was then dismembered and destroyed.
“They aimed to ensure no sign of the body was left. This is what isunderstood from the prosecutor’s statement, said Aktay, who was close tothe journalist.
“Killing an innocent person is one crime, the treatment and extent of whatwas done to the body is another crime and dishonour.”
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The Turkish official quoted by the Washington Post said that “biologicalevidence” found in the consulate’s garden indicated the body was likelydisposed of near where Khashoggi was killed.
“Khashoggi’s body was not in need of burying,” the official told the USnewspaper on the condition of anonymity.
Saudi authorities have denied Turkish police permission to search a well inthe consulate’s garden, but did allow them to take water samples foranalysis, according to local media reports.
The murder has placed strain on the decades-old alliance between the UnitedStates and Saudi Arabia and tarnished the image of Crown Prince Mohammedbin Salman, the kingdom’s de facto ruler.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Thursday it may take “a handfulmore weeks” before Washington has enough evidence to impose sanctions onthe individuals responsible. – APP/AFP
