New details emerge in Khashoggi case as Pompeo tours Ankara

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo met with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and the country’s foreign minister, Mevlut Cavusoglu, in Ankara today to discuss the latest developments on dissident Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi. The Washington Post columnist’s disappearance on Oct. 2 has escalated into a behind-the-scenes power play, with Ankara apparently pushing for unrevealed concessions from the kingdom.

There were no details released following Pompeo’s talks with the Turkish leaders. They followed meetings in Riyadh with Saudi King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who is thought to have issued the orders for Khashoggi to be either abducted or killed.

Pompeo’s tour coincided with the disclosure of further lurid snippets as to how Khashoggi was said to have been tortured, killed and dismembered in the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul on Oct. 2.

The pro-government Yeni Safak newspaper said it had access to the audio recordings of Saudi Consul General Mohammed al-Otaibi telling the killers, “Do this thing outside. You are going to get me into trouble,” to which one of the men purportedly responded, “If you want to stay alive, shut up.”

Otaibi left Istanbul yesterday and Turkish investigators began searching his residence, where Khashoggi’s remains may be buried after allegedly being carried out of the consulate by individuals belonging to a 15-member Saudi hit squad Turkish officials claim was commissioned to murder him.

Read the full article and more at Al-Monitor.