Jamal Khashoggi Disappearance: Saudi Arabia Getting Ready to Admit Journalist Killed During Interrogation

After two weeks of flat out denial, there is news that Saudi Arabia may be getting ready to admit that journalist Jamal Khashoggi has been killed during a botched interrogation at the country’s consulate in Istanbul, Turkey.

According to CNN, Riyadh is preparing a report that will acknowledge that Khashoggi's death was the result of an interrogation that went wrong when he was intercepted at the Saudi consulate. The interception was reportedly intended to lead to his abduction from Turkey, according to two sources as reported by CNN.

The CNN says the report will likely conclude that the operation was carried out without clearance and transparency, in order to dissociate Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman from Khashoggi’s apparent death.

There has been intense pressure in recent days for Saudi Arabia to explain the sequence of events after Jamal Khashoggi entered the Istanbul consulate on October 2.

Since Khashoggi’s fiancé reported his disappearance, Turkey has followed up on his case and were the first to accuse the Saudis of killing Khashoggi. Today, the Aljazeera reported that Turkish prosecutors have found evidence that supports suspicions Khashoggi was killed in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.

This after Turkish police investigators entered Saudi Arabia's Istanbul consulate, nearly two weeks after the disappearance of Khashoggi.

A Turkish diplomatic source had earlier said that a joint Turkish-Saudi team would conduct a search of the consulate.

A source at the Attorney General's office, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said, "They have found evidence that supports their suspicions that Jamal Khashoggi was killed inside the Saudi consulate". "This is a significant step forward after several days of an impasse," he said.

The Attorney General's office also said their team inside the consulate found evidence of "tampering", the source added.

The results of the investigation would be released in two to three days, the prosecutors office said.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Oct 16, 2018 06:08 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).