Turkey: Riyadh sent experts to cover up murder

Jamal Khashoggi

Saudi Arabia sent two experts to Istanbul with the specific aim of covering up evidence after the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi at its consulate in Istanbul, a Turkish official said on Monday.

More than a month after the Saudi royal-insider-turned critic was killed inside the mission on October 2, Turkey has still yet to recover the remains amid claims that his body was dissolved in acid.

"We believe that the two individuals came to Turkey for the sole purpose of covering up evidence of Jamal Khashoggi's murder before the Turkish police were allowed to search the premises," a senior Turkish official said, asking not to be named. The official confirmed a report in the Sabah newspaper saying that chemicals expert Ahmad Abdulaziz al-Janobi and toxicology expert Khaled Yahya al-Zahrani were among a team sent from Saudi Arabia purportedly to investigate the murder last month.
The report said they visited the consulate every day from their arrival on October 11 until October 17.

Saudi Arabia only allowed Turkish police to finally search the consulate on October 15. The unnamed Turkish official said Monday: "The fact that a clean-up team was dispatched from Saudi Arabia nine days after the murder suggests that Khashoggi's slaying was within the knowledge of top Saudi official."

Family asks for Khashoggi's body
The sons of murdered Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi have appealed to Riyadh to return the body of their father so that the grieving family can bury him in a cemetery in the holy city of Medina with the rest of his clan. Authorities in Turkey are still searching for Khashoggi's remains. His sons Salah and Abdullah Khashoggi said without their father's body, their family is unable to grieve or find closure.

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