Turkey demands extradition of 18 Saudis in Khashoggi case

[rooster59]

Turkey demands extradition of 18 Saudis in Khashoggi case

By Ezgi Erkoyun and Ali Kucukgocmen

 

A demonstrator holds a poster with a picture of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi outside the Saudi Arabia consulate in Istanbul, Turkey October 25, 2018. REUTERS/Osman Orsal

 

ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Turkish prosecutors have prepared an extradition request for 18 suspects from Saudi Arabia in the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, authorities said on Friday, after President Tayyip Erdogan urged Riyadh to disclose who ordered the murder.

 

Erdogan has in recent days stepped up pressure on Saudi Arabia to come clean in the case, and Western governments have also voiced increasing scepticism, pitching the world's top oil exporter and a pivotal Middle East ally into a worsening crisis.

 

Erdogan said Turkey had more information than it had shared so far about the killing of Khashoggi, a Saudi national and Washington Post columnist who was killed at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on Oct.2.

 

Khashoggi, who lived in the United States, was a critic of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the kingdom's de facto ruler.

 

Saudi Arabia's public prosecutor on Thursday said the killing of Khashoggi was premeditated, contradicting a previous official statement that it happened accidentally during a tussle in the consulate. Riyadh's numerous shifting accounts of the killing have undermined Prince Mohammed's stance in the West.

 

Turkish prosecutors seeking the extradition accuse the 18 of "murder by premeditation, monstrous intent or by torture".

Riyadh previously arrested the 18 as part of its investigation into the case. Those include a 15-man security team that Turkey says flew in hours before the killing and carried it out.

 

"Who gave this order?" Erdogan said in a speech to members of his AK Party in Ankara. "Who gave the order for 15 people to come to Turkey?" he said.

 

Saudi officials initially denied having anything to do with Khashoggi's disappearance after he entered the consulate, which he had visited to obtain paperwork for a planned marriage.

 

"The reasoning behind the extradition request is that Jamal Khashoggi was murdered in Turkey by Saudi nationals who travelled to Turkey for this specific purpose," a senior Turkish official said.

 

"It is clear that the judicial system in Turkey is better equipped to genuinely serve the cause of justice in this case."

Saudi Arabia has also sacked five senior government officials as part of the investigation.

 

FIANCEE SPURNED TRUMP INVITE

 

Khashoggi's Turkish fiancee, Hatice Cengiz, said she did not accept an invitation from U.S. President Donald Trump, the kingdom's staunchest Western champion, to visit the White House after Khashoggi's murder because she thought it was aimed at influencing public opinion in his own favour.

 

In her first television interview since the killing, Cengiz recounted the events leading up to their visit to the consulate on Oct. 2 where Khashoggi handed her his two mobile phones and went inside while she waited outside for him to emerge.

 

"Trump invited me to the United States but I perceived it as a statement to win public favour," Cengiz told broadcaster Haberturk, pausing at times during an interview and more than once breaking down in tears.

 

Trump and Prince Mohammed have cultivated warm ties though the U.S. president said earlier this week that the crown prince, as the kingdom's de facto ruler, bore ultimate responsibility for the operation against Khashoggi. Trump also said Riyadh had staged the "worst cover-up ever" over the killing.

 

Cengiz said Khashoggi was concerned tensions would arise when he visited the consulate for the first time on Sept. 28, but he was treated well at that visit, which appeared to reassure him, she said.

 

"He thought Turkey is a safe country and if he would be held or interrogated, this issue would be swiftly solved," she said.

 

SELF-STYLED REFORMER

 

How Western allies deal with Riyadh will hinge on the extent to which they believe responsibility for Khashoggi's death lies directly with Prince Mohammed and the Saudi authorities.

 

Prince Mohammed, who casts himself as a reformer, has said the killers will be brought to justice.

 

Erdogan said he had spoken with Prince Mohammed. "I also told the crown prince. I said, 'You know how to make people talk. Whatever happened between these 18 people, this dodgy business is among them. If you are determined to lift suspicion, then the key point of our cooperation is these 18 people.'"

 

Turkish officials suspect Saudi agents killed Khashoggi, 59, inside the consulate and dismembered him. Turkish sources say authorities have an audio recording documenting the murder.

 

U.S. CIA Director Gina Haspel heard the audio during a visit to Turkey this week, sources told Reuters, and has briefed Trump about Turkey's findings and her discussions.

 

Saudi state television quoted the Saudi public prosecutor on Thursday as saying Riyadh was interrogating suspects on the basis of information given by a joint Saudi-Turkish task force.

 

Many Saudis have been shocked by Riyadh's admission after two weeks of denials and condemnation of foreign news reports.

 

On Friday, authorities tried to stem the domestic fallout, instructing mosque preachers to focus sermons on "the fierce and unjust onslaught targeting the country", according to a directive seen by Reuters that did not specifically mention the Khashoggi murder.

 

One Riyadh cleric warned worshippers against repeating reports from TV or social media "without contemplating the danger of this news", adding that "most of them are lies".

 

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2018-10-27

[AGareth2]

11 minutes ago, rooster59 said:

One Riyadh cleric warned worshippers against repeating reports from TV or social media "without contemplating the danger of this news", adding that "most of them are lies".

well the ones coming out of the desert are

[Pedrogaz]

Smart move by Erdogan. I still think he did a deal with the US via Gina Haspel's (the head of the CIA) visit immediately prior to Erdogan's speech on Tuesday in which he spectacularly failed to reveal the story, to give the US more time to save MbS.

If the Saudis refuse this request (as they surely will) he can legitimately say that they are not serious about punishing the perps....but it will keep the matter alive for a couple of more days, before the news cycle moves on.

 

What I don't understand is that I have seen, on the internet yesterday, the photos of Kashoggi's dismembered body including the face that has been flayed off the face. I cannot find these photos on any English speaking news source and it remains on Spanish sites only, uses it has been deleted by now. Interestingly, you can see the other Saudis standing around along with the guy taking the video....surely these could be identified.

[NanLaew]

33 minutes ago, Pedrogaz said:

What I don't understand is that I have seen, on the internet yesterday, the photos of Kashoggi's dismembered body including the face that has been flayed off the face. I cannot find these photos on any English speaking news source and it remains on Spanish sites only, uses it has been deleted by now. Interestingly, you can see the other Saudis standing around along with the guy taking the video....surely these could be identified.

What I don't understand is your acceptance of these ephemeral pictures on a Spanish website as being authentic.

 

http://observers.france24.com/en/20181025-debunked-jamal-khashoggi-body-photos

 

The Turks have been absolutely brilliant at controlling any leaks with only their official, drip-feed of the results of their intense investigation. I think they have all the damming evidence but are having a whale of a time watching the Saudi's squirm as they release retractions and revisions of their official announcements with every drip from the Turkish disclosure tap. Erdogan's public statement confirmed what was already known but was careful not to openly admit to already knowing a lot more. The Saudi's had already literally painted themselves into a corner when they redecorated the embassy and such things as declaring diplomatic immunity for a consular Mercedes Benz found in a parking garage is just delaying the inevitable.

 

As for demanding extradition, that isn't going to happen unless the investigators already know two things that Erdogan brought up; who the Turkish 'facilitator' was and where Kashoggi's body is (or went).

Edited October 27, 2018 by NanLaew

[sweatalot]

Do they also demand extradition of the one who ordered the murder or only the lackeys?

 

[AGareth2]

4 hours ago, sweatalot said:

Do they also demand extradition of the one who ordered the murder or only the lackeys?

 

maybe they will send the 1 who died in an accident

[Ulic]

Never going to happen, pissing into a hurricane as far as I am concerned. Saudi Arabis is what it has always been. Run by people we know and understand. Accept or don't. Up to the world to decide. Erdogan is certainly no better. Just another agenda. Thugs and fundamentalist all. 

[billd766]

Whoever signed off on this created an enormous FUBAR and is deep in the smelly stuff now.

 

It reminds me of the old saying 

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Will_no_one_rid_me_of_this_turbulent_priest%3F

 

Will no one rid me of this turbulent priest? (sometimes expressed as troublesome or meddlesome priest) is an utterance attributed to Henry II of England, which led to the death of Thomas Becket, the Archbishop of Canterbury, in 1170. While it was not expressed as an order, it caused four knights to travel from Normandy to Canterbury, where they killed Becket.

The phrase is now used to express the idea that a ruler's wish can be interpreted as a command by his or her subordinates.

[cookieqw]

4 hours ago, Ulic said:

Never going to happen, pissing into a hurricane as far as I am concerned. Saudi Arabis is what it has always been. Run by people we know and understand. Accept or don't. Up to the world to decide. Erdogan is certainly no better. Just another agenda. Thugs and fundamentalist all. 

exactly if they send them to turkey the truth will come out, the saudi"s dont want that especially msb.

i think the turks have the dirt on msb

should be interesting xmas.

[Bluespunk]

18 hours ago, rooster59 said:

Turkish prosecutors have prepared an extradition request for 18 suspects from Saudi Arabia in the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, authorities said on Friday, after President Tayyip Erdogan urged Riyadh to disclose who ordered the murder.

Yeah, good luck with that.  

[Basil B]

No way is MBS going to say he knew about this barbaric torture and murder in advance, even though it was most defiantly planed in advance.

 

Best outcome would be for supper powers to accept it that he did not know or sanction it, and push him in to more "human rights" reforms.

 

 

[candide]

I know I repeat myself, but where has the Trumpist anti-muslim brigade gone? ????

[ExpatOilWorker]

Where are the 18 now?

 

Sitting in solitary confinement in a basement in Riyadh, wondering if their next meal will be laced with poison or are they playing computer games in an isolated military camp waiting for this to blow over and their master calling them back into service?

Edited October 28, 2018 by ExpatOilWorker

[Briggsy]

6 minutes ago, ExpatOilWorker said:

Where are the 18 now?

 

Sitting in solitary confinement in a basement in Riyadh, wondering if their next meal will be laced with poison or are they playing computer games in an isolated military camp waiting for this to blow over and they master calling them back into service?

They no longer have any use on the international stage. They will be deployed to the Eastern Province to deal with the Shiites or killed if they are blamed for the mess. Who knows? There will be no official announcement.

[onlycw]

MBS is between a rock and a hard place. Because his underlings can see how deep they are gonna be protected. And then draw their own conclusions.

 

Such barbaric extrajudicial acts by governments need to get ruthlessly exposed. - To come clean would have been the better choice, with hindsight. 

[Morch]

On 10/27/2018 at 11:14 PM, cookieqw said:

exactly if they send them to turkey the truth will come out, the saudi"s dont want that especially msb.

i think the turks have the dirt on msb

should be interesting xmas.

 

Well, they won't be extradited. As for Turkish interrogations bringing out "the truth" - it's not as if Turkey got a great record with regard to human rights, including suspects. What "truth" coming out under such a hypothetical scenario would be in line with Turkey's (or rather, Erdogan's) interests.

[Morch]

On 10/28/2018 at 12:32 AM, Basil B said:

No way is MBS going to say he knew about this barbaric torture and murder in advance, even though it was most defiantly planed in advance.

 

Best outcome would be for supper powers to accept it that he did not know or sanction it, and push him in to more "human rights" reforms.

 

 

 

I think make a show of pushing him toward "human rights" reforms is more likely. As to such actually materializing....