Police report reveals new details on Khashoggi killing

By Halil Demir
ISTANBUL (AA) - A police report on the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi last fall in Saudi Consulate in Istanbul Thursday revealed some more details of the crime.
The 2018 annual report, published by the Istanbul police department, stated that two water wells and a tandoor oven which could be fired with natural gas and wood were found in the consulate.
The report emphasized that the temperature of the tandoor oven can be increased to a thousand Celsius (1832 F), destroying all the DNA.
- Saudi hit team includes forensic expert

On the day of the event, the Saudi team of 15 people who entered the consulate was including a forensic expert from the Saudi Interior Ministry.
The 47-year-old expert Lieutenant Colonel Salah Mohammed A. Tubaigy studied his master’s thesis on DNA analysis from a bone.
The report noted that this person has the expertise to know whether there is DNA or not on rotting and burned bones.

- 32 servings of raw meat

Investigations carried out in the region revealed that after the killing of Khashoggi, 32-portion uncooked meat was ordered to the Consulate from a famous restaurant, according to the report.
"Unavoidably many more questions come to the mind... Was cooking meat in the tandoor oven part of the plans that they already made? Of course, these questions will be clarified. Investigations have not been finalized yet."

- 'Interesting' tip-off from US

Turkey’s anti-terror branch said that it received a total of 224 tip-offs and one of the most "interesting" tip-offs came from the U.S. during the investigation into the killing.
It includes a tip-off of an anonymous person, mentioning a link to NASA, which claimed that they took Jamal Khashoggi to Cairo and killed there.

- Fiancee of Khashoggi could be 'second victim'

The report said that a consulate officer was waiting for Khashoggi at the entrance of the building. The officer reported the arrival of Saudi journalist to some inside the consulate on the day of the incident.
"The same officer didn’t give the information that 'someone is waiting for Khashoggi' despite seeing Hatice Cengiz [fiancee of Khashoggi]. If he mentioned it, maybe the execution would be stopped," said the report.
“There is another possibility... Perhaps Hatice Cengiz would be the second victim of the violence as her fiancee."
Evident from the areas that were cleaned with chemicals is that they tried to cover the planned killing, the report noted.
It also said that the hit team was easily carrying their suitcases with them while entering the building, while they had difficulty in carrying them leaving the consulate.
The police authorities stand on the possibility that Khashoggi’s body could have been burned.


- Killing of Saudi journalist

Khashoggi was killed and dismembered by a group of Saudi operatives shortly after he entered the country's consulate in Istanbul on Oct. 2.
Riyadh offered various, conflicting narratives to explain his disappearance before acknowledging he was murdered in the diplomatic building, seeking to blame his death on a botched rendition operation being carried out by rogue agents.
But that explanation has been roundly rejected outside of the Kingdom, as pressure has mounted for Crown Prince bin Salman, whom many believe had to have signed off on Khashoggi's killing, to be held to account.