Jamal Khashoggi murder: Riyadh denies role of Saudi crown prince as ‘tell your boss’ audio surfaces

By Team MyNationFirst Published Nov 14, 2018, 3:21 PM IST
Highlights

'We categorically deny the reporting referencing the crown prince in this matter (Jamal Khashoggi murder) or that he had any knowledge whatsoever of it,' a Saudi official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity

Washington: An audio clip from a phone call has emerged where one of the members of the team that killed Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi is heard saying "tell your boss" that the murder had been carried out.

The message was delivered to someone in Saudi Arabia shortly after Khashoggi was murdered inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on October 2, according to Washington Post. Khashoggi had gone to the consulate to get documents for his wedding with a Turkish national. According to reports his body was dissolved in acid.

Also read: Jamal Khashoggi’s body melted in vat of acid; fiancée in shock

Last week, Khashoggi's sons appealed to Riyadh to return his father's body so that they could bury him in a graveyard.

"All what we want right now is to bury him in Al-Baqi (graveyard) in Medina (Saudi Arabia) with the rest of his family. I talked about that with the Saudi authorities and I just hope that it happens soon," Salah told CNN.

According to Washington Post, officials in multiple countries felt that the journalist could not have been killed without the knowledge of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. However, Saudi has categorically denied it.

The country's officials claimed the Turkish government had not provided them audio that includes "tell your boss".

"We categorically deny the reporting referencing the crown prince in this matter or that he had any knowledge whatsoever of it," a Saudi official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss the matter, according to Washington Post.

"Despite our multiple requests, the Turkish authorities have not provided us with the recordings. However, they allowed our intelligence services to hear recordings, and at no moment were there any references to the mentioned phrase in those recordings," he added.

US too said it doesn’t find any link of the Crown Prince in this case. "We haven't made a determination" about whether Mohammed knew of the plot to kill Khashoggi, an US official said. Saudi is a key ally of the United States.

According to Washington Post, a senior Turkish official said the Turkish government allowed CIA Director Gina Haspel to listen to the audio recording of events that happened inside the consulate and also the telephone conversations between the team that carried out the assassination and Saudi Arabia.

Read Exclusive COVID-19 Coronavirus News updates, at MyNation.

click me!