The Gruesome Istanbul Assassination
In October 2018, Washington Post columnist and prominent Saudi critic Jamal Khashoggi entered the Saudi consulate in Istanbul to obtain divorce documentation, unaware he was walking into a meticulously planned assassination. A 15-person Saudi hit team, including members of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's elite personal guard and his close adviser Saud al-Qahtani, had been dispatched specifically to capture or kill the journalist.
Contradictory Accounts Emerge
During an Oval Office appearance with the Saudi crown prince on Tuesday, former President Donald Trump made the extraordinary claim that Mohammed bin Salman had no involvement in the murder. "Whether you like him or didn't like him, things happen," Trump told reporters, adding "But [Prince Mohammed] knew nothing about it. And we can leave it at that."
This assertion directly contradicts the official assessment from Trump's own intelligence services. A 2021 report from the US Office of the Director of National Intelligence stated unequivocally: "We assess that Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman approved an operation in Istanbul, Turkey, to capture or kill Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi."
The Horrific Details Revealed
Turkish intelligence had bugged the consulate, providing chilling audio evidence of the murder. Recordings reveal Khashoggi was told about an Interpol warrant before being overpowered. UN investigator Dr Agnes Callamard's report indicates he was likely injected with a sedative and suffocated using a plastic bag.
Even more disturbingly, a Saudi doctor present discussed dismembering Khashoggi's body beforehand, noting it would "be easy" and describing how joints would be separated and pieces wrapped in plastic. The UN report confirms sounds of a saw were identified in the recordings, with CCTV later capturing three men carrying plastic bin bags and rolling suitcases believed to contain Khashoggi's remains.
The crown prince has acknowledged "responsibility" as Saudi Arabia's de facto ruler while denying he ordered the operation, calling it a "painful" event and a "huge mistake." Khashoggi's widow, Hanan Elatr Khashoggi, told Reuters that her husband's remains have never been recovered and expressed hope Trump might meet her to understand "the real Jamal."
