The killers of dissident Saudi journalist, Jamal Khashoggi, flew his remains out of Turkey after chopping him up and putting him in bags, Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar has been quoted as saying.
Khashoggi, a US resident who wrote for the Washington Post, was killed in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on October 2 after being lured into the mission for some standard paperwork.
The incident sparked global outrage against Riyadh, which initially dodged questions and offered contradictory explanations before coming clean and admitting that the journalist was killed after “negotiations” to get him to return to Saudi Arabia failed.
Discussing the murder during an international conference in Halifax, Canada, Akar said Sunday that Khashoggi's killers may have taken his remains out of Turkey in luggage.
“One probability is that they left the country three to four hours after committing the murder. They may have taken out Khashoggi's dismembered corpse inside luggage without facing problems due to their diplomatic immunity,” Akar said, according to CNN Turk.
In the aftermath of Khashoggi’s disappearance, Turkish officials said they had identified a group of at least 15 individuals, including a two-man “clean-up team,” who were involved in the murder.
It was assumed back then that the body was dissolved in acid, given that inspectors had found traces of acid in the Saudi console’s residence. There were other sources who claimed the body was buried somewhere outside the city.
Akar’s account was similar to a claim made by Saudi public prosecutor Shalaan al-Shalaan, who said Thursday that Khashoggi's murderers dismembered his body, removed it from the consulate and handed it to an unidentified “local cooperator.”
More than a month after the murder, the international community has been trying to maintain pressure on Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who is accused of directly ordering the hit job.
Turkey has released a stream of evidence that undermines Riyadh's denials about the young prince’s involvement.
Ankara says it has shared recordings related to the killing, which include the actual murder and conversations leading up to the operation with some Western allies.
A CIA assessment, leaked by the Washington Post, directly blames bin Salman for the killing.
In conducting its assessment, the CIA examined multiple intelligence sources, including a phone call that the prince’s brother Khalid bin Salman, the Saudi ambassador to the US, had with the ill-fated journalist, telling him to go to the Saudi diplomatic mission and giving him assurances that it would be safe to do so.
Saudi Arabia insists that bin Salman had nothing to do with the operation and “rogue” elements with the country’s intelligence community executed the plan on their own.
Shalaan said Thursday that the Saudi prosecutor had requested the death penalty for five individuals “charged with ordering and committing the crime, and the appropriate sentences for the other indicted individuals.”
According to him, 11 of 21 suspects detained in relation to the crime had been indicted and would be referred to court, while investigations of the remaining suspects continued.
However, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said he was not satisfied with Shalaan's statement, urging Riyadh to disclose the location of Khashoggi's remains and allowing the suspects to be tried in Turkey.