The Jamal Khashoggi Case: Suspects Had Ties to Saudi Crown Prince

ISTANBUL - One of the suspects identified by Turkey during the disappearance of Saudi dissident Jamal Khashoggi was an assiduous companion of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman: he was seen posing planes in Paris and Madrid and was photographed during his visits this year. Houston. , Boston and the United Nations.

Three others are linked by witnesses and other documents to the security information of the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia.

A fifth is a medical examiner who occupies positions of responsibility within the Ministry of the Interior and the medical establishment of Saudi Arabia, a figure of such a scale that it could only be directed by a Saudi authority of high rank.

If, as the Turkish authorities say, these men were present at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, where Mr Khashoggi disappeared on 2 October, they could establish a direct link between what happened and Prince Mohammed. This would undermine any suggestion that Mr. Khashoggi would die in a dishonest operation not authorized by the Crown Prince. His relationship with him may also make it difficult for the White House and Congress to accept such an explanation.

The New York Times independently confirmed that at least nine of the 15 suspects identified by the Turkish authorities were working for Saudi security services, ministries of the military or other ministries. One of them, Maher Abdulaziz Mutreb, was a diplomat assigned to the Saudi Embassy in London in 2007, according to a British diplomatic list. He traveled extensively with the crown prince, perhaps as a bodyguard.

The guilt of Khashoggi's disappearance or death to the 33-year-old crown prince has become a decisive factor in his presence in the eyes of the West and the royal family.

The prince introduced himself as a reformer in order to open up the economy and culture of the kingdom and used this image to try to influence White House policies in the region and to attract Western investors to help them diversify the economy. Saudi

But international disgust at the assassination and mutilation of a single newspaper columnist, Mr. Khashoggi, who wrote for the Washington Post, has already tainted this image much more than the previous mistakes of the Crown Prince, if he had seen his country in a catastrophic war. In Yemen to kidnap the Prime Minister of Lebanon.

A Saudi investigative delegation entered the consulate in Istanbul on Monday before Turkish investigators arrived.Credit

The Crown Prince and his father, King Salman, denied knowing where Mr. Khashoggi was, saying repeatedly that he had left the consulate freely. The Saudi authorities have not responded to requests for comments for this article.

But in recent days, as major US companies withdrew from an investment conference in Riyadh and members of Congress rallied to demand sanctions, the United States, Turkey and Saudi Arabia seem to have sought a way to save face. outside.

The royal court had to admit that Mr. Khashoggi had been killed at the consulate and accused an intelligence agent of firing a shot during an operation to interrogate Mr. Khashoggi, who had finally killed him.

President Trump on Monday raised the possibility of Mr. Khashoggi being a victim of criminal killings.

But these explanations would come up against a series of obstacles that are difficult to explain.

The positions of the suspects in the Saudi government and their links with the Crown Prince could make it more difficult to release his responsibilities.

The presence of an autopsy pathologist suggests that the operation may have had a deadly intent from the beginning.

Turkish officials said they had evidence that the 15 Saudi agents had gone to Istanbul on October 2, had murdered Mr. Khashoggi, dismembered him with a bone saw provided for the purpose and had stolen the same day. The records indicate that two private jets chartered by a Saudi company with close ties to the Crown Prince and the Ministry of the Interior arrived and left Istanbul on the day of Mr. Khashoggi's disappearance.

Turkish officials said Khashoggi was killed two hours after he arrived at the consulate. This calendar would not have left much time for an interrogation.

A still from a security-camera video shows a jet that Turkish authorities say carried some of the Saudi agents involved in the disappearance of Jamal Khashoggi.

The Times has collected more information about the suspects through facial recognition, available public records, social network profiles, a database of Saudi mobile phone numbers, Saudi information, leaking documents from the Saudi government and, in some cases, to testimonies of Saudi country witnesses that the prince visited

Mr. Mutreb, the former diplomat in London, was photographed leaving planes with Prince Mohammed on recent trips to Madrid and Paris. He was also photographed in Houston, Boston and at the United Nations on Crown Prince visits, often with a frown while observing a crowd.

A French professional who worked with the Saudi royal family identified a second suspect, Abdulaziz Mohammed al-Hawsawi, as a member of the security team traveling with the Crown Prince.

A Saudi news agency reported that a person with the same name as the third suspect, Thaar Ghaleb al-Harbi, had been promoted to the rank of Lieutenant of the Royal Saudi Guard for the courage he had shown in defending the palace from Prince Mohammed to Jeddah.

A fourth suspect traveled with a passport bearing the name of another member of the Royal Guard, Muhammed Saad Alzahrani. A name search in Menom3ay, a popular application in Saudi Arabia that allows users to see names associated with certain phone numbers by other users, has identified him as a member of the Royal Guard. A guard bearing a label bearing this name appears in a video of 2017 with Prince Mohammed.

Members of the Royal Guard or assistants who have traveled with the Crown Prince can not inform him directly and may sometimes perform other duties. It is possible that some were recruited for an expedition aimed at capturing or interrogating Mr. Khashoggi, possibly under the leadership of a senior intelligence officer. But the presence among the suspects of an autopsy expert, Dr. Salah al-Tubaigy, suggests that the murder could have been part of the initial plan.

Dr. Tubaigy, who has maintained his presence on various social media platforms, has identified himself on his Twitter account as head of the Saudi Scientific Council of Forensic Sciences and has held senior positions in the leading medical school in the country. kingdom, as well as in his ministry inside the country. He studied at Glasgow University and in 2015 spent three months in Australia as a visiting medical examiner at the Victorian Institute of Forensic Medicine. His published writings include work on dissection and mobile autopsies.

Although there is no public record of a relationship between him and the royal court, it is unlikely that such a prominent personality from the Saudi medical establishment will join a rebel expedition organized by a subordinate.

Dr. Tubaigy, whose name appeared for the first time in the reports of the suspects several days ago, did not respond publicly to the allegations. None of the suspects could be contacted for a comment.