Jamal Khashoggi was a Saudi journalist who criticised the Saudi crown prince Mohammed bin Salman’s policies. He was then killed at the Saudi Consulate Istanbul. Turkish officials claim that a team of 15 men tortured and killed the journalist, but Saudi Arabia claims that he was murdered in a fistfight.
Below are key points in the killing of the Washington Post columnist.
BEFORE HIS DISASTERANCE
September 2017.The Post publishes Khashoggi’s first column. The ex-journalist and royal court insider writes that Khashoggi went into self-imposed exile in America after Prince Mohammed rose to power. In his subsequent columns, he criticizes the direction of the kingdom and the prince.
September 28, 2018Khashoggi visited the Saudi Consulate Istanbul in Istanbul to seek documents for his marriage. This was more than a year ago after his column appeared in the Post. Later, Khashoggi is told by his fiancée Hatice Cengiz to come back October 2. Turkish President Recep Tyyip Turkey says that in Saudi Arabia, a plan was developed or a “roadmap” to murder Khashoggi.
September 29, 2009Khashoggi visits London to speak at a conference.
October 1stKhashoggi has returned to Istanbul. According to Erdogan, the three-person Saudi delegation arrives in Istanbul at 4.30pm on a planned flight. They check in to their hotels and then visit the consulate. Turkish President Erdogan said that another team of representatives from the consulate traveled to Yalova, a nearby city on a reconnaissance’ trip.
Jamal Khashoggi (right), arrives at the Saudi Arabian consulate Istanbul on October 2,
THE DATE OF HIS DEATH
2.28 a.m., October 2,Istanbul’s Ataturk Airport receives a private plane carrying members of what Turkish media refers to as an “assassination crew” from Saudi Arabia. The team’s other members arrive on two commercial aircraft in the afternoon. Erdogan said that the group includes intelligence and security officials from Saudi Arabia and an expert in forensics. They meet at Saudi Consulate. According to the president, one of the first things they do together is to take apart a hard disk that was connected to the consulate camera system.
11.50am:Erdogan says Khashoggi was called later in the day to confirm his appointment at consulate.
1.14pm: The footage of Khashoggi entering into the Saudi Consulate main entrance was later shown by surveillance cameras. Never has any public footage ever shown him departing. He waits for his fiancee outside, and he pacing for several hours.
3.07pm:Surveillance footage shows that vehicles bearing diplomatic license plates leave the Saudi Consulate at the consul General’s house, approximately 2km (1.2 mi) away.
5.50pm:Khashoggi’s fiancee informs authorities of Khashoggi’s possible detention inside the consulate.
7pm:Six members of an alleged Saudi Saudi Squad were flown by a private Saudi Arabian plane to Istanbul and Cairo. The crew then returned to Riyadh the following day.
11pm: Seven other members of an alleged Saudi team leave Riyadh in a private jet for Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Two more members leave via commercial flight.
Erdogan confirmed reports that Khashoggi was seen leaving Riyadh’s consulate with a “body double” – an individual wearing Khashoggi’s clothing, glasses, and beard. He left the consulate building that morning along with another passenger on a later scheduled flight.
CCTV images showed a a private jet alleged to have been used by a group of Saudi men suspected of being involved in Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi’s death
INITIAL REACTION
October 3, 2009Khashoggi’s fiancee, and the Post are open about his disappearance. Saudi Arabia states that Khashoggi went to the consulate. He left soon after. Turkish officials believe Khashoggi may still be at the consulate. Bloomberg hears from Prince Mohammed that he has nothing to hide.
October 4, Saudi Arabia claims that its consulate has begun coordinating with Turkish authorities in order to find out the facts about Jamal Khashoggi’s disappearance.
October 5, 2008The Post printed a blank column for Khashoggi in their newspaper. The headline was: ‘A missing Voice’
October 6,The Post reported that Khashoggi might have been murdered in Istanbul by anonymous Turkish officials.
October 7th:Khashoggi’s friend tells the AP officials claimed that the writer had been killed at the consulate. It rejects the consulate’s ‘baseless claims.
October 8, 2009Saudi Arabia’s Ambassador to Turkey has been summoned by the Turkish government over Khashoggi’s disappearance and alleged murder.
LOST FOOTAGE
October 9, 2009Turkey claims it will inspect the Saudi Consulate in case a photograph of Khashoggi entering the diplomatic office surfaces.
October 10Khashoggi’s surveillance footage and that of the suspected Saudi group responsible for his death is released. Khashoggi’s fiancée asks Melania Trump and President Donald Trump for assistance.
October 11, 2009Turkish media describe the Saudi Squad as including intelligence officers, soldiers, royal guards and an autopsy specialist. Trump describes Khashoggi’s disappearance as a “bad situation”, and vows to find the truth.
October 12, 2012Trump pledges again to discover what happened with Khashoggi.
October 13th: According to a pro-government newspaper, Turkish officials possess an audio recording from Khashoggi’s killing via his Apple Watch. But details of the report are not correct.
INTERNATIONAL UPPROAR
October 14, 2008Trump claims that the ‘we are going to get it to the bottom, and there would be severe punishment’ for Saudi Arabia if they were involved. Saudi Arabia’s manager of satellite news channels, which is owned by the kingdom, suggests that the kingdom could respond with oil exports. One point, the Saudi stock market plunges up to 7 percent.
After entering Istanbul’s Saudi consulate, Khashoggi went missing (pictured).
October 15The Turkish Forensics Team enters the Saudi Consulate and conducts a search. This is a remarkable development, as these diplomatic posts are sovereign. Trump says that Khashoggi may have been murdered by “rogue killers” after speaking with Saudi King Salman. Trump announces that Mike Pompeo, Secretary of State, will be traveling to the Mideast for the investigation. Meanwhile, Prince Mohammed’s business leaders are adamant that they will not attend an economic summit hosted by the kingdom.
October 16,A top-ranking Turkish official informs the AP of ‘certain evidence found at the Saudi Consulate’ that proves Khashoggi’s murder. Pompeo travels to Saudi Arabia for talks with Prince Mohammed and King Salman. Trump, however, compares Pompeo’s case to that of the confirmation hearing for now-Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh. He said: “Here, we go again with your guilty until proven innocent.”
October 17Pompeo met with Turkey’s president and foreign secretary in Ankara. Turkish police searched the Istanbul consulate of Saudi Arabia and conducted a second sweep.
October 18Unpublished surveillance photographs show Prince Mohammed’s entourage walking into the consulate right before Khashoggi vanished.
October 20Saudi Arabia, for the first times, has acknowledged Khashoggi died in its consulate. He claimed that he was killed in a fight. This claim is immediately resisted by the Kingdom’s Western Allies, especially the U.S. Congress.
October 22 A report says a member of Prince Mohammed’s entourage made four calls to the royal’s office around the time Khashoggi was killed. The vehicle was parked underground in Istanbul and police searched it.
CCTV emerges showing a Saudi intelligence officer dressed in a fake beard and Jamal Khashoggi’s clothes and glasses on the day he went missing.
September 23, 2009 Erdogan says Saudi officials murdered Khashoggi after plotting his death for days, demanding that Saudi Arabia reveal the identities of all involved.
October 25,Saudi prosecutors claim that Khashoggi was murdered with premeditation.
November 2nd:Turkey’s President Recept Tayyip Erdan claims that Khashoggi was ordered to be killed by the Saudi royals. Yasin Akay, the Turkish president’s ruling party advisor, claimed that the body was dissolved in acid earlier in the day.
November 4Khashoggi’s children Salah Khashoggi & Abdullah Khashoggi appeal for the return of his remains so that he can be buried with Saudi Arabia.
November 10, 2010 Erdogan states that Turkey released audio recordings relating to the killing to ‘Saudi Arabia’, Washington, and the Germans as well as to the French and the British.
November 13th: Turkish media reports that the luggage carried by the Saudi ‘hit squad’ included scissors, defibrillators and syringes that may have been used against Khashoggi.
November 15, 2009 Saudi Arabia’s public procuror has announced that he will seek the death penalty against five of the eleven suspects in the killing. Shalaan al-Shalaan said the person who had ordered the killing was the head of the negotiating team sent to repatriate him, and exonerated Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman. On the same day, the U.S. Treasury announces sanctions against 17 Saudi officials, including the Consul General in Turkey, Mohammed Alotaibi.
November 16, 2009 The Washington Post reported that a CIA analysis found Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman had ordered the assassination.
November 18, 2008 Germany bans 18 Saudi nationals believed to be connected to the murder from entering Europe’s border-free Schengen zone. Berlin announces that it will halt all previously approved arms exports from Saudi Arabia.