Saudi Arabia: Khashoggi’s murder premeditated

Saudi Arabia’s public prosecutor said Thursday that new information indicated journalist Jamal Khashoggi’s death was premeditated. The announcement on pro-government TV said the information came from the joint Saudi-Turkish investigation but did not offer details about the alleged death plot, The New York Times reported.

This reversal is the latest in the Saudi narrative about the incident, which has sparked international outrage and left global leaders scrambling to find an explanation. Khashoggi, a Saudi dissident, Washington Post columnist, and U.S. resident, disappeared Oct. 2 after walking into the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul. Saudi officials claimed he left the consulate alive, a report that contradicted Turkish reports saying a 15-member team, one carrying a bonesaw, flew in and tortured and killed Khashoggi and dismembered his body. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called the killing a savage, pre-planned murder, pointing out that one of the members of the team dressed in Khashoggi’s clothes and a fake beard to act as a body double to make it look like he walked out of the consulate. Saudi officials later said a spontaneous brawl broke out between Khashoggi and the team and he died from a chokehold.

CIA Director Gina Haspel flew to Turkey on Monday to continue the U.S. investigation into the matter and listened to the audio recording of Khashoggi’s torture and death provided by Turkish officials, The Washington Post reported Wednesday. On Wednesday, de facto Saudi ruler Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman denied knowledge of the killing ahead of time, calling it a “heinous crime.” All Saudi reports have claimed that the crown prince was not involved.

The evolving Saudi explanation has garnered widespread Western skepticism. Many members of Congress have questioned whether such an operation could have been carried out without the royal family’s knowledge, and the European Union on Thursday passed a nonbinding resolution urging an arms embargo on Saudi Arabia.

President Donald Trump on Tuesday called the killing “one of the worst in the history of cover-ups.” Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Tuesday that the United States will revoke the visas of Saudi officials believed to be involved. Pompeo said revoking visas was a first step in the U.S. response. He also said the Trump administration was considering sanctions on the individuals responsible.