Saudi Royal Court ‘Ordered’ Journalist Assassinated

Turkey releases video of 15 Saudi operatives believed involved

Turkish officials have stepped up accusations against Saudi Arabia over the apparent assassination of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, saying that the order to assassinate him came from the “highest” levels of the Saudi royal court.

On top of this, Turkish officials named 15 Saudi men that they have identified as “operatives” involved in the assassination of Khashoggi. The group included a Saudi special forces member, two royal guards, and a chief in the internal security agency.

Saudi officials have denied that anything at all happened to Khashoggi, saying he entered the consulate on October 2 and left unharmed. Turkish officials claimed unspecified confidential intelligence that he is dead. His body has not been found, but there has been no sign of him since this visit.

Turkey even his video of this putative assassination team, who all arrived in Turkey on two Gulfstream jets. That Turkey was so easily able to identify this group, and that they arrived in such a conspicuous manner suggests that the Saudis did little to cover their actions, and may even have figured being implicated would intimidate other dissidents.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.