WASHINGTON – US President Donald Trump said Wednesday he has talked toSaudi authorities “at the highest level” to demand answers over whathappened to vanished journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
Trump told reporters at the White House that he has talked to the Saudileadership “more than once” since Khashoggi, a US resident and WashingtonPost contributor, vanished on October 2 after entering the Saudi consulatein Istanbul.
“We’re demanding everything. We want to see what’s going on there,” hesaid. “It’s a very serious situation for us and this White House … Ithink we’ll get to the bottom of it.”
“We cannot let this happen, to reporters, to anybody,” Trump said.
These were the toughest comments coming out of the Trump administrationsince the mysterious disappearance of the journalist, who Turkishauthorities suspect was abducted and murdered by the Saudis.
Turkish investigators are examining CCTV footage showing the moment heentered the kingdom’s consulate in Istanbul to obtain documents ahead ofhis marriage to his Turkish fiance Hatice Cengiz.
Cengiz appealed to Trump in an opinion piece for the Washington Post onTuesday, calling on him to “help shed light on Jamal’s disappearance.”
Trump said that he and First Lady Melania Trump were in contact with herand were looking to “bring her to the White House.”
– Suspicious vehicle –
Turkish government sources said at the weekend that police believedKhashoggi was killed by a team specially sent to Istanbul and thought toconsist of 15 Saudis.
Security camera footage released on Wednesday by Turkish television showeda man believed to be Khashoggi enter the consulate. Investigators are alsozooming in on a vehicle seen entering and leaving the building afterKhashoggi went inside.
But Riyadh insisted the 59-year-old journalist had left the building andthat murder claims are “baseless”.
Khashoggi, a former Saudi government adviser, had been living in the UnitedStates since last year fearing arrest.
He has been critical of some policies of the Saudi Crown Prince Mohammedbin Salman and Riyadh’s intervention in the war in Yemen.
Turkish police were looking into two private aircraft that landed atIstanbul’s Ataturk airport on October 2 at different times carrying theindividuals of interest in the case.
A source told the Washington Post that US intelligence “interceptedcommunications of Saudi officials discussing a plan to capture him.”
The same source said the Saudis hoped to “lure” Khashoggi to Saudi Arabia”and lay hands on him there”.
– Possible kidnapping –
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One of the first images from the CCTV footage shared by 24 TV broadcastershowed Khashoggi enter the consulate at 1:14 pm (1014 GMT).
Footage also showed some of the Saudis arriving in Istanbul after the firstplane landed before 0030 GMT on October 2 and the men later checking into ahotel near the consulate. Aksam daily said some of the men went into theSaudi consulate before Khashoggi.
According to the images, a vehicle that went inside the consulate was thendriven to the consul-general’s residence nearby after 1200 GMT, two hoursafter Khashoggi had entered the mission.
Aksam newspaper’s editor-in-chief Murat Kelkitlioglu speculated on 24 TVthat it was “almost certain” that Khashoggi had been taken in the vehicle.
Local media on Tuesday reported on the possibility that Khashoggi waskidnapped and taken aboard one of the private planes.
Both planes later returned to Riyadh with one stopping in Dubai and theother in Egypt, pro-government Sabah daily said.
According to Hurriyet daily, nine Saudis who arrived in Istanbul on thesame day that the journalist vanished, had bought luggage at the GrandBazaar. However, a police search revealed that they did not take theluggage on their return.
Sabah daily on Wednesday published the names and images of what it calledthe “assassination team” including a man called Salah Muhammed Al-Tubaigywhose name it said matched that of a lieutenant-colonel in the Saudiforensic department.
Sabah added that no “body parts” appeared on scans of the belongings ofseven passengers of relevance to the case at Istanbul airport.
Turkey has said Saudi authorities gave officials the greenlight to searchthe consulate but it has not yet taken place.
– ‘I shouldn’t go’ –
In his last interview three days before his disappearance, Khashoggi saidthat he did not think he would return to Saudi Arabia.
“When I hear of the arrest of a friend who did nothing that (deservedbeing) arrested, it makes me feel I shouldn’t go,” he told the BBC.
Reporters Without Borders (RSF), which ranks the kingdom 169th out of 180on its World Press Freedom Index, said in a statement that between 25 and30 professional and non-professional journalists are currently detained inSaudi Arabia.
RSF said at least 15 Saudi journalists and bloggers have been arrestedsince September 2017. – APP/AFP
