British media chide Saudi handling of Khashoggi case

By Gurhan Kartal

LONDON

Turkish prosecutors’ latest statement that journalist Jamal Khashoggi was strangled as soon as he entered the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul on Oct. 2, and his body was later dismembered, got extensive coverage in British media outlets.

Under the title “Khashoggi murder: Turkey gives official details of Saudi writer’s death,” the BBC reported that Turkish prosecutors said the murder was pre-meditated.

The Guardian daily underlined that “Riyadh previously said” Khashoggi died in a fight in a rogue extradition operation, and has maintained that his body, intact, was wrapped up in a rug and disposed of by an unidentified “local collaborator.”

Pointing to Turkish prosecutors’ statement that the “body was dismembered and destroyed following his death by suffocation,” the daily said the statement bolstered Turkish investigators’ line of thought that “Khashoggi’s remains could have been disposed of at the nearby consul general’s house, dissolved in acid or dumped in a well on the property.”

“The fresh revelations from Istanbul came on the heels of the Saudi chief prosecutor’s departure from the city after a two-day visit – underlining how little co-operation there has been so far in what is supposedly a joint Turkish-Saudi investigation,” it added.

The Independent website said the Turkish side of the investigation is not satisfied with the Saudi cooperation.

Turks keep asking for answers to some key questions, it said: “who ordered the 18-man operation to murder Mr Khashoggi, what happened to the victim's body.”

“Turks have received no satisfactory answers,” it added.

“Turkey releases grisly details of Khashoggi killing,” was the Financial Times’ headline for the latest statement from Turkish prosecutors.

“Jamal Khashoggi was killed by asphyxiation ‘as soon as he entered’ Saudi Arabia's Istanbul consulate, Turkish authorities said on Wednesday, as they accused Riyadh of refusing to co-operate on the investigation into his death,” it reported.

“Mr Erdogan and other senior officials have insisted that they have a “moral obligation” to reveal the truth about what happened,” it added.