Saudi Arabian Crisis Live Thread: Latest Updates

[TomSea]

The Nation but salient points all the same. That's important points for those in Rio Linda.  And the universities spoken of here, are indeed, the more elite ones. That's the problem with the Saudis oil money, they have so much money, buy a Chateau in France, buy all kinds of things.

Why Are US Colleges Collaborating With Saudi Arabia?
By Stanley Heller March 20, 2018

Saudi Arabia’s crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, has come to the United States for a two-week visit and met with President Trump on Tuesday. Acclaimed by Pulitzer Prize winner Thomas Friedman as the spirit of the Arab Spring, MBS, as he is often called, is often described as a “reformer.” Unfortunately, there is the little matter of his Yemen war. He arrived just when Bernie Sanders’s bill to end US participation in that criminal adventure is slated for a Senate vote.

I’ve seen plenty on the Internet about the horrors in Yemen, but the one that got to me most recently was an Al Jazeera video of people eating food from a garbage dump, where they are competing for food with masses of flies. This is what the Saudis and the United States have brought to Yemen.

An early November story in The New York Times was headlined “Saudi Money Fuels the Tech Industry. It’s Time to Ask Why.” It talked about all the tech companies like Uber, Lyft, and Twitter that have taken investments from the Saudi government and private Saudi businessmen allied with the government, noting that the Saudi kingdom has an “abysmal record with human rights groups.” If businesses’ ethics can be challenged, then why not US colleges that take Saudi money?

Read more at: https://www.thenation.com/article/why-are-us-colleges-collaborating-with-saudi-arabia/

The next article, obviously, the Turks control the narrative, letting out information bit by bit.

BTW, on Erdogan, one of the articles I read said, Erdogan has fully embraced the Muslim Brotherhood as far as that goes.

The Atlantic:

Turkey Is Treating the Khashoggi Affair Like It’s Must-See TV

Erdoğan’s government is releasing information about the case bit by bit, seemingly in an effort to control the narrative about the journalist’s fate.
Borzou Daragahi
Oct 19, 2018

Most Americans don’t know it, but Turks are masters of serialized television. Long before Netflix, Hulu, and the addictive golden-age TV shows that dominate the small screen now, Turks were pumping out popular programs dubbed or subtitled in Arabic, Persian, Spanish, Russian, and English.

Set the story at exotic locales, like posh Istanbul villas with stunning views. Throw in an ill-fated romance, a do-gooder who meets a tragic end, a bullying villain, a shocking crime, some violence, a dash of political, international, or corporate intrigue, a few twists, and you’ve got a hit on your hands. Turkish producers have become experts at devising captivating tales that keep audiences tuning in week after week. 

Consider this pitch. A charming writer, keen to marry his young love, vanishes from a European consulate of his own country. The alleged culprits: a group of 15 goons, flown in on private jets, who are later revealed to have drugged, beaten, killed, and dismembered him. In the shadows lurks a brash young monarch eager to make his mark and silence those who might rally opposition. The details are like something out of CSI: Istanbul.

Read more at: https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2018/10/turkey-narrative-khashoggi-saudi/573460/

[TomSea]

Khashoggi's Death Is an Eerie Reminder of a Soviet Killing
Seventy years ago, the Soviets silenced a Czech critic and defied the US with unmatched boldness. The episode chillingly foreshadows the way the Saudis stonewalled.
Nicolaus Mills  10.19.18



The almost surely fatal disappearance of Saudi journalist and Washington Post contributor Jamal Khashoggi after he entered the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul has a familiar ring to it. The Saudis have borrowed a page from the old Soviet Union playbook on the best way to get rid of a troublesome critic.

The Soviets showed how to silence a critic and defy America with unmatched boldness 70 years ago in Czechoslovakia. That is when the Czechs moved to lessen the Soviet Union’s control over their country and the Soviets struck back. Through a bloodless coup, they forced mass resignations from a Czech government they did not regard as sufficiently pro-Soviet. 

The problem for the Soviets was that they could not intimidate Jan Masaryk, the Czech foreign minister and the best-known figure in the Czech government.  The son of Tomas Masaryk, one of the founders of modern Czechoslovakia in 1918, Jan Masaryk had been ambassador to Great Britain from 1925 to 1938 and had an international reputation.  In 1948 he opted to remain in the Czech government.

Read more at: https://www.thedailybeast.com/khashoggis-death-is-an-eerie-reminder-of-a-soviet-killing

[TomSea]

The Saudi government reportedly targeted and punished several dissidents after McKinsey identified them in a report
Michelle Mark

    The Saudi government targeted and punished several dissidents after the American consultancy firm McKinsey & Company identified them in a report as critics, The New York Times reported.

    McKinsey reportedly created a nine-page report gauging public response to Saudi austerity measures announced in 2015, and found that three dissidents had a major influence over negative coverage on Twitter.

    One of the dissidents was arrested, another was hacked and had two brothers arrested, and a third, anonymous user's account was shut down, The Times reported.

Read more at: https://www.businessinsider.com/mckinsey-report-saudi-arabia-dissidents-arrest-2018-10

[TomSea]

The Saudi regime does not represent Islam

Khaled A Beydoun

The recent disappearance of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi has the world's fingers pointed in the direction of the Saudi government, specifically at its de-facto leader, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

Khashoggi, a Saudi citizen living in exile in the United States because of his criticism of the Saudi regime, earned the esteem of audiences that read his political commentary in both Arabic and English. He was last seen alive entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on October 2, when he visited to procure documents he needed to wed his Turkish fiancee.

Speculation about bin Salman ordering his kidnapping, or state-sponsored murder, rose to the fore, dominating mainstream and social media discussions about the missing journalist's likely fate. On October 19, Saudi authorities finally admitted Khashoggi was killed inside the country's Istanbul consulate. This admission merely confirmed a conclusion most had already drawn given the regime's dismal human rights record and fierce intolerance to any criticism: The Saudi government was directly responsible for Khashoggi's disappearance and death.

Read more at: https://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/saudi-regime-represent-islam-181019145130605.html

[TomSea]

   McCain & Graham [Heart] the Muslim Brotherhood
By Andrew C. McCarthy

February 22, 2012 5:08 PM

Senators John McCain and Lindsey Graham have taken time off from helping install an Islamist government in Libya (mainly the Muslim Brotherhood, with some help from al Qaeda) and calling for the arming of the Syrian “rebels” (mainly the Muslim Brotherhood, with some help from al Qaeda) to heap praise on the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt.

The post-Mubarak regime for which democracy project enthusiasts like McCain and Graham clamored is poised to try Americans they have taken prisoner. This is a particular blow for the senators because they sit on the board of one of the NGOs at the center of the crisis — the International Republican Institute, a progressive endowment that is a clearinghouse for channeling millions of American taxpayer dollars for “civil society development” across the globe. The IRI has served as a McCain fiefdom since he was given control of it 20 years ago. It is one of the organizations whose members have been accused of violating Mubarak-era Egyptian laws that bar NGOs from receiving foreign funding — laws that the Muslim Brotherhood opposed because they made it harder for the Brothers to rabble-rouse under the guise of “promoting democracy.”
 
<snipped>

Don’t say you weren’t warned. Back in 2008, I argued that McCain’s reputation as a tower of national-security strength is a myth, that “in reality, a McCain presidency would promise an entirely conventional, center-left, multilateralism” — i.e., “the same agonizing over European and Islamic perceptions of America; the same doctrinaire commitment to the alchemy of democracy promotion; and the same fondness for heaping more unaccountable bureaucratic sprawl atop the already counterproductive agencies and multinational institutions that frustrate the United States at every turn” that are staples of Democratic party dogma, and that were on display in the second Bush term.

Read more at: https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/mccain-graham-heart-muslim-brotherhood-andrew-c-mccarthy/

[edpc]

MBS Says the Saudi Consulate in Turkey Is 'Sovereign Territory.' He's Wrong.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/mbs-says-saudi-consulate-turkey-152559781.html


An overview on the technical aspects of sovereign territory and diplomatic immunity.

[TomSea]

Leading U.S. senator blames Saudi prince for Khashoggi death
Doina Chiacu

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A leading Republican U.S. senator said on Sunday he believed Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman was responsible for the death of dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

“Do I think he did it? Yes, I think he did it,” Senator Bob Corker, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said in an interview with CNN’s “State of the Union.”

Corker said he was waiting for investigations to be completed and hoped that Turkey would share any audio tapes of the killing of Khashoggi in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.

Read more at: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-politics-dissident-corker/leading-u-s-senator-blames-saudi-prince-for-khashoggi-death-idUSKCN1MV0JX

What’s Missing From the Saudis’ Khashoggi Story
Hassan Hassan

It’s difficult to understand al-Qahtani’s removal as anything other than a soft rebuke to MbS and his heavy-handedness by King Salman, who stepped in some days ago to manage the fallout from Khashoggi’s murder. A Saudi official told me that the king’s orders could perhaps alter the aggressive way that authorities deal with dissidents.

Some will no doubt speculate that the king now plans to introduce radical changes, including to the line of succession. But that extreme scenario is unlikely. MbS will most probably weather the storm, and will remain the kingdom’s de facto head of state—why else would the king have put MbS in charge of a ministerial committee to restructure the top command of the country’s intelligence services?

To deflect blame away from MbS, Saudi officials point out that there is a standing general order that requires authorities to “bring back” Saudi opponents in exile, and argue that the 18 individuals botched it. MbS, according to an official quoted by Reuters, was aware of the standing order but not of the operation.

Read more at: https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2018/10/whats-missing-from-the-saudis-khashoggi-story/573532/

Saudis’ Image Makers: A Troll Army and a Twitter Insider

Each morning, Jamal Khashoggi would check his phone to discover what fresh hell had been unleashed while he was sleeping.

He would see the work of an army of Twitter trolls, ordered to attack him and other influential Saudis who had criticized the kingdom’s leaders. He sometimes took the attacks personally, so friends made a point of calling frequently to check on his mental state.

“The mornings were the worst for him because he would wake up to the equivalent of sustained gunfire online,” said Maggie Mitchell Salem, a friend of Mr. Khashoggi’s for more than 15 years.

Read more at: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/20/us/politics/saudi-image-campaign-twitter.html

[TomSea]

https://twitter.com/ragipsoylu

Ragıp Soylu:

Ragıp Soylu
‏Verified account @ragipsoylu
18m
Sen. Bob Corker, Senate For. Relations Comm on #Khashoggi :
ʉۢ "We have intercepts from the past that point to involvement at a very high level"
• “MBS was involved in this, he directed this and that this person was purposely murdered"
Via @rgoodlaw

Ragıp Soylu
‏Verified account @ragipsoylu
48m48 minutes ago

Saudi FM Jubeir to Fox:

• We don’t know how #Khashoggi was killed where body is
• Saudi leadership wasn’t aware of the op
• Isn’t aware of a tape
• Don’t think 15 Saudis were at the Consulate at the same time
• US lawmakers are sentimental
5 replies 34 retweets 34 likes

• Saudis: Autopsy expert was there to remove forensic evidence such as fingerprints, not to cut up body (NYT)
• Erdogan: Will reveal all details on Tuesday
 â€¢ Trump: There’s been deception, and lies • MbS to Kushner: “why the outrage?” (WSJ)

See the latest at this twitter account.

Saudis may even be claiming "body was taken out in a rolled up carpet" by a cooperative third party (at the above twitter account and the story the Saudis are putting out now)....so, the police were searching the "Belgrad" forest park but there may not be a lot to this. It's a plot unfolding.

Middle East Eye:

EXCLUSIVE: Turkey believes MBS bodyguard took Khashoggi body part to Riyadh
https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/exclusive-turkey-believes-mbs-bodyguard-took-khashoggi-bodypart-riyadh-sources-say-850395032

[TomSea]

Saudi crown prince is 'gonna have to be replaced' amid 'insulting' explanation for Khashoggi's death, Rand Paul says
By Gregg Re | Fox News

The Saudi government's overnight announcement that Washington Post contributor Jamal Khashoggi died in a fistfight at its consulate in Turkey was "insulting," and provided another reason Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Salman is "gonna have to be replaced," Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., told "Fox News Sunday."

Authorities in Saudi Arabia said 18 suspects were in custody and intelligence officials had been fired over the episode, weeks after they initially claimed Khashoggi had left their embassy unharmed. Turkish officials have said an "assassination squad" from the Kingdom, including an official from Prince Mohammed's entourage, and an "autopsy expert" flew in ahead of time and laid in wait for Khashoggi at the consulate.

Khashoggi, a prominent journalist and royal court insider for decades in Saudi Arabia, had written columns for The Washington Post critical of Prince Mohammed and the Kingdom's direction while living in self-imposed exile in the U.S. He had advocated for democracy in Saudi Arabia and, in particular, supported Islamist politics.

Continued at: https://www.foxnews.com/politics/saudi-crown-prince-is-gonna-have-to-be-replaced-amid-insulting-explanation-for-khashoggis-death-rand-paul-says

Often, Paul says things that are his own view. Obviously, he is on the right track. I don't know if our Government will take this position.

   

[edpc]

Not that he has any position in the admin, but he's generally been supportive of Trump.  Yet, Gingrich concurred, this morning on FNS, that the multiple Saudi explanations to date have been 'insultingly stupid.'


https://www.newsmax.com/t/newsmax/article/887267?section=politics&keywords=saudiarabia-crownprince-mohammedbinsalman&year=2018&month=10&date=21&id=887267&oref=r.search.yahoo.com

[mountaineer]

Sorry, but Jamal Khashoggi doesn't matter that much
by Tom Rogan
 | October 18, 2018 02:45 PM

Jamal Khashoggi was a decent man who suffered an unjust and brutal fate. But he doesn't matter as much as many journalists and politicians are saying.

What happened to Khashoggi isn't that surprising in the context of Middle Eastern politics, or that momentous for U.S. interests. As brutal as it might read, Khashoggi's fate is a reflection of standard-fare regional politics. The Middle East is a region in which power is shaped by the intersection of personal whims, desperate aspirations, venomous ideologies, and the paranoid balance of power interactions. And I'm sorry — considering American interests in the context of Middle Eastern politics, Khashoggi isn't that important.

First, though, one caveat: I respect those who suggest that Khashoggi's fate might require America to reassess its relationship with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, and that because of what he did to Khashoggi, bin Salman has shown himself to be an impossibly unreliable partner. While I don't believe that to be true (I believe the Saudis can be made to learn their lesson), I respect the consideration.

But I don't believe Khashoggi matters that much. I get that some readers will view my words here as callous, arrogant, and even delusional. But I would simply ask them two questions: How did you perceive Saudi Arabia before this happened, and how do you perceive Middle Eastern politics per se?    ...   Washington Examiner

[edpc]

Sorry, but Jamal Khashoggi doesn't matter that much by Tom Rogan

That may very well be, in the big picture.  However, the ridiculous Keystone Cops handling by the Saudis and the amateur hour handling by the admin has created problems and posed legitimate questions.  Between the past business relationships with Trump, the contracts awarded to Broidy, and the financial overtures through Kushner, it opens the parties up to scrutiny.

[TomSea]

That may very well be, in the big picture.  However, the ridiculous Keystone Cops handling by the Saudis and the amateur hour handling by the admin has created problems and posed legitimate questions.  Between the past business relationships with Trump, the contracts awarded to Broidy, and the financial overtures through Kushner, it opens the parties up to scrutiny.

It sure does. Good post....

Also, if no one posted it yet, Trump is now "talking tough" but really, this is only after Graham,  Corker, Rubio, Paul, all have condemnations, some by as much as 2 days.  There is nothing wrong with seeing which way the wind blows.

And once again, the Saudis, if they have to do something like this, send out a hit squad the way some other countries do,  poison him or something.  This was just awfully done by the Saudis.

[TomSea]

Footage of Saudi wearing Khashoggi's clothes released by Turkish investigators
Images published by CNN show Mustafa al-Madani impersonating the slain journalist, before apparently dumping his clothes in central Istanbul

Jamal Khashoggi walking into the consulate, left, and Mustafa al-Madani later wearing his clothes, right (Screengrab)
Monday 22 October 2018 11:18 UTC

Videos have emerged of a Saudi suspected of being behind Jamal Khashoggi’s murder walking around Istanbul in the journalist’s clothes shortly after he was last seen.

In footage released by CNN, Mustafa al-Madani, one of 15 Saudis who is believed to have travelled to Istanbul from Riyadh with the intention of killing critic Khashoggi, is seen wearing the journalist’s shirt, trousers, jacket and glasses.

He also appears to be wearing a fake beard and his own shoes.

Read more at: https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/footage-saudi-suspect-wearing-khashoggis-clothes-released-turkish-investigators-1829999652

[edpc]

It looks like Khashoggi went in to the Saudi consulate and got hair restoration.  Has anybody questioned Joe Biden?

[TomSea]

Ragıp Soylu
‏Verified account @ragipsoylu
#Khashoggi morning updates:

• Imposter leaving the Saudi Consulate broadcasted by CNN
• Saudi diplomatic car found in Istanbul: TRT World
• Heavy Russian presence in Saudi investment con: WSJ
• Trump/Erdogan agreed to clear it up
• Prosecutor questions more witnesses

https://twitter.com/ragipsoylu/status/1054344665850359809

Russians at the conference, meaning, they won't care too much about human rights.

Why the Washington Post Fears the Freedom Center
We’re making a difference and the media is trying to stop us.

Daniel Greenfield

 â€œHard-line Republicans and conservative commentators are mounting a dark whisper campaign against Jamal Khashoggi,” the Washington Post nervously warned.

It was the third week of Khashoggimania. And some difficult questions were being asked.

The Washington Post had provided Jamal Khashoggi, a Hamas supporter and an old friend of Osama bin Laden, with column space in which to promote the agenda of the Muslim Brotherhood. It had seized on the pretext of his disappearance and death to fracture the coalition against Iran and advocate regime change in Saudi Arabia. These had also been Khashoggi’s two fundamental Islamist goals.

Continued: https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/271701/why-washington-post-fears-freedom-center-daniel-greenfield

‘Muslim Brotherhood’ is a global threat: US Expert

Efforts continue in Washington D.C. to designate the Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist organization due to its global activities.

Hillel Fradkin, Director of the Center on Islam, Democracy and the Future of the Muslim World at the Hudson Institute emphasized to Al Arabiya English that the Muslim Brotherhood is a global threat, "It is true that it operates on a global basis or as global as it can be. It has branches in various Muslim countries, especially Arab countries, but also other regional countries, and it has organizations that were founded by and directed by its members in other places like France, England, US, and so forth,” he said.

The US expert highlighted that the Brotherhood founder, Egyptian, Hassan al Banna, was aiming to establish his organization outside Egypt as well, not for his personal ambitions, but to implement the agenda of the Brotherhood’s project.

https://english.alarabiya.net/en/features/2018/10/22/Muslim-Brotherhood-is-a-global-threat-US-Expert.html

[TomSea]

Car belonging to Saudi consulate found in Istanbul parking lot: NTV

ANKARA (Reuters) - A car belonging to the Saudi consulate in Istanbul has been found in the Sultangazi district of the city, broadcaster NTV and other local media said on Monday, adding that police would search the vehicle.

Read more at: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-saudi-khashoggi-car/car-belonging-to-saudi-consulate-found-in-istanbul-parking-lot-ntv-idUSKCN1MW1SX

Very sloppy operation, I wonder if they might find something here?

[TomSea]

Saudi Foreign Minister Rebukes Rand Paul for Blaming Khashoggi’s Death on MBS: That’s Based on Emotions and Speculation
by Amy Russo | Oct 21st, 2018, 12:30 pm 222

Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir rebuked Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) on Sunday for his assertion that Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman was culpable in the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, contending that the senator didn’t know much.

“I find it very surprising that somebody 6,000 miles away can be certain about an event that happened 6,000 miles away with no access to information or intelligence,” al-Jubeir told Fox News’ Bret Baeir in an exclusive interview. “So this is a judgment call on the part of Senator Paul. This is not based in fact. It’s just based on emotions and based on speculation.”

Earlier in the day, Paul gave an interview of his own in which he said he was “certain that the crown prince was involved and that he directed this,” arguing that U.S. relations with the leader could not continue and that he must be replaced.

Read more at: https://www.mediaite.com/tv/saudi-foreign-minister-rebukes-rand-paul-for-blaming-khashoggis-death-on-mbs-thats-based-on-emotions-and-speculation/

[TomSea]

MEE has been on top of this story but they certainly, messed up a major story before with their anonymous sources....so, that's a bit of a disclaimer on whether this story is believable or not.

REVEALED: The Saudi death squad MBS uses to silence dissent
MEE exclusively reveals details about the Tiger Squad, a team of assassins targeting Saudi critics at home and abroad

Jamal Khashoggi fell victim to its assassins. He wasn't the first.

In new revelations, a Saudi source with intimate knowledge of his country's intelligence services told Middle East Eye about a death squad that operates under the guidance and supervision of Mohammed bin Salman, the Saudi crown prince.

The Firqat el-Nemr, or Tiger Squad, is well-known to the US intelligence services. It was formed more than a year ago and is comprised of 50 of the best-skilled intelligence and military operatives in the kingdom.

More at: https://www.middleeasteye.net/tiger-squad-saudi-hitmen-khashoggi-mbs

Jamal Khashoggi: The columns he wrote anonymously for Middle East Eye
Khashoggi's death has finally been confirmed by Riyadh. In his memory - and as a tribute to his work - MEE is removing his anonymous byline

See columns at: https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/jamal-khashoggi-write-for-middle-east-eye-comment-opinion-saudi-arabia-798140829

[TomSea]

As to that squad member who reportedly died in a car accident:

Bostani, 31, was reportedly killed on 18 October in a car accident in Riyadh.

"It's a lie. He was locked in a prison and his food was poisoned," the source said. "Bostani holds the secret of the deputy governor of Asir's killing, as well as Khashoggi's."

https://www.middleeasteye.net/tiger-squad-saudi-hitmen-khashoggi-mbs

-------

Should US-Saudi Alliance Be Saved? | Patrick J. Buchanan
By Patrick J. Buchanan

Over the weekend Donald Trump warned of “severe punishment” if an investigation concludes that a Saudi hit team murdered Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.

...

However, which would be a greater violation of human rights: the sanctioned killing of a political enemy of the regime or 10,000 dead Yemenis, including women and children, and millions facing malnutrition and starvation in a Saudi war of aggression being fought with the complicity and cooperation of the United States?

Rather than resist Congress’ proposed sanctions, President Trump might take this opportunity to begin a long withdrawal from decades of entanglement in Mideast wars that have availed us nothing and cost us greatly.

Article: http://buchanan.org/blog/should-us-saudi-alliance-be-saved-130349

[edpc]

Jamal Khashoggi resisted overtures to return to Saudi Arabia for a year

Saudi dissident Jamal Khashoggi, who was killed after entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul earlier this month, met with the Saudi ambassador to the U.S., Prince Khalid bin Salman, at the Saudi Embassy in Washington, D.C. in late 2017 or early 2018, according to a new report.

Sources with knowledge of the meeting, which was confirmed by the Saudi Embassy, said that the Saudi government tried to convince Khashoggi to come back to Saudi Arabia for at least a year. According to NBC News, Prince Khalid, who is the brother of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, and senior Royal Court adviser Saud bin Abdullah Al Qahtani had reached out to Khashoggi attempting to persuade him to return.

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/jamal-khashoggi-resisted-overtures-to-return-to-saudi-arabia-for-a-years

[TomSea]

I heard something about if they make MBS, Mohammed Bin Salman look bad, they might have to be dealing with him on the throne for the next 30-40 years on the throne. They might not want to do that.

Qatari publication al Jazeera:

Sources tell Reuters audio of Saud al-Qahtani's Skype call in possession of Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

...

Monday, October 22
CIA chief 'travels to Turkey' for Khashoggi case

Gina Haspel, director of the United States' Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) is heading to Turkey on Monday to work on the probe into Khashoggi's killing, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters news agency.

...

Report: Saud al-Qahtani 'ran Khashoggi killing via Skype'

...

Report: French judge to probe complaint against MBS over alleged Yemen abuses

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2018/10/jamal-khashoggi-case-latest-updates-181010133542286.html

But surely, everything is going against MBS or MbS.

On Rush, when they were talking about this last week, they made reference, that it was sort of like being in the Mafia, once you are in, you are always in... and your loyalties to the organization so to speak... but Khashoggi bucked that trend... he was in the inner most circle, I suppose... and maybe his columns let on to a lot.

A very messy affair...

[TomSea]

Bezos and bin Salman, he also met the Rock, others.



https://www.middleeasteye.net/The-Rock-Dwayne-Johnson-Mohammed-bin-Salman-Hollywood-Tequila

Already posted, apparently the big wrestling federation does shows over in Saudi Arabia.

[TomSea]

Chicago Sun Times:

EDITORIAL: Expel Saudi ambassador till we get the truth in journalist's murder
BySun-Times Editorial Board

We hope every member of Illinois’ congressional delegation will have the courage to back Sen. Dick Durbin.

Durbin called on the Trump administration to formally expel the Saudi ambassador to the U.S. until an independent investigation uncovers the truth about the murder of Jamal Khashoggi, a Washington Post columnist and Saudi regime critic who was — the Saudis have now been forced to admit — killed inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.

Sending an ambassador packing is a drastic step, particularly when the ambassador is the younger brother of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

Read more at: https://chicago.suntimes.com/opinion/dick-durbin-expel-saudi-ambassador-jamal-khashoggi-murder/

[TomSea]

Ragıp Soylu
‏Verified account @ragipsoylu
5m5 minutes ago

Erdogan was scheduled to appear at 11:45am (Turkey) / 4:45 (EST). A little bit delay always happens

https://twitter.com/ragipsoylu

Alright, Erdogan has shown up...

Watching to see if we might get the "whole story" here fairly quickly... maybe in the next 2 hours.

Live: http://www.anews.com.tr/webtv/live-broadcast

Okay, the speech is on....Ragip Soylu probably best for updates: https://twitter.com/ragipsoylu