Jamal Khashoggi latest: 'Tape excerpts' allege dissident journalist was called traitor and one of his killers complained at being ordered to wear his clothes

The killing of Jamal Khashoggi has sparked international condemnation
Reuters
Eleanor Rose20 November 2018

Turkish media has released what it says are excerpts from the murder of Jamal Khashoggi in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.

According to news outlet Haberturk, the 59-year-old journalist can be heard telling four officials who grabbed him when he entered the building: "Release my arm! What do you think you are doing?"

The newspaper reports that his words are followed by "a verbal quarrel, noises of a physical fight and then beating and torture" evidenced by a seven-minute recording.

During the killing, Maher Abdulaziz Mutreb, the alleged leader of a 15-man "execution squad" sent to kill Mr Khashoggi, is said to have told him: "Traitor! You will be brought to account."

Hatice Cengiz, Turkish finance of slain journalist Jamal Khashoggi, listens during an event organized to mark the 40th day of the death of the Saudi writer, in Istanbul
AP

Shortly afterwards, one of the killing team complains of having to wear the Washington Post contributing columnist's clothes and act as a decoy, Haberturk reports.

"It is spooky to wear the clothes of a man whom we killed 20 minutes ago," the man allegedly said.

The authenticity of the tape excerpts is not confirmed and Saudi and Turkish officials have not yet commented.

However media is tightly controlled in Turkey, and Haberturk is a staunchly pro-government title.

Turkey has long maintained that it was in possession of a recording of the killing and said it had been shared with officials from Saudi Arabia, Germany, France, the US and UK.

Donald Trump recently said he doesn't want to listen to the tape since he was told it was “very violent” and “terrible”, but that he has been told what it contains.

He said: “We have the tape, I don’t want to hear the tape. There’s no reason for me to hear the tape.”

The brutal killing of Mr Khashoggi, a prominent critic of Saudi crown prince Mohammed Bin Salman, has drawn global condemnation including from many politicians and officials in the US, a key Saudi ally.

The CIA has said Saudi Arabia's crown prince Mohammed bin Salman ordered the killing of Jamal Khashoggi
Amir Levy/Reuters

The CIA believes the crown prince ordered the killing, according to US sources familiar with the assessment.

Saudi Arabia's foreign minister said on Tuesday that claims of MBS's involvement in the killing were false, according to an Arabic-language newspaper interview.

"We in the kingdom know that such allegations about the crown prince have no basis in truth and we categorically reject them, whether through leaks or not," Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir was quoted as saying in Saudi-owned Al Sharq Al Awsat newspaper.

It was the first Saudi official comment on the CIA report.

Additional reporting by Reuters

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