Saudi Arabian Crisis Live Thread: Latest Updates

[TomSea]

For the record, Khashoggi's son is barred from leaving the country:

Saudi King, Crown Prince receive Khashoggi’s family in Riyadh



Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud received at the Al Yamamah palace in Riyadh Sahl Ahmed Khashoggi and Salah Jamal Khashoggi in the presence of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

The Saudi monarch and crown prince both expressed their deepest condolences to the family and relatives of the late Jamal Khashoggi.

Read more at: https://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/gulf/2018/10/23/Saudi-King-Crown-Prince-receive-Khashoggi-s-family-in-Riyadh.html

Also, as of now, the "body parts in the garden" story:

Ragıp Soylu
‏Verified account @ragipsoylu
1h1 hour ago

BREAKING — Istanbul Police denies reports that they had found parts of #Khashoggi body inside Saudi Consul General’s Residence.

Police says the search for the corpse is still ongoing – Turkish TV

https://twitter.com/ragipsoylu/status/1054738853863526400

To me,  Erdogan's speech did not bring out much of anything new but confirmed some of what we've been told happened. Perhaps the main thing was saying it was a "premeditated murder".

[TomSea]

Khashoggi met crown prince's brother in D.C. months before killing
Breaking News Emails

WASHINGTON — Months before he was killed in Istanbul, Jamal Khashoggi was invited up to the office of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's brother, Prince Khalid bin Salman, the Saudi ambassador to the United States, for a friendly meeting at the Saudi Embassy in Washington, three people with knowledge of the meeting told NBC News.

Khashoggi, a prominent critic of the Saudi government, was visiting on a routine consular matter, but he was quickly recognized by embassy officials, who immediately called up to Prince Khalid's top-floor office. Soon, word was sent summoning Khashoggi upstairs, and the two spent roughly half an hour together.

...

What exactly Khashoggi and Prince Khalid discussed is not clear. But the meeting came amid a monthslong campaign by the Saudi royal court to lure Khashoggi back to the kingdom — at first peacefully, through cordial encouragement, and then through more forceful means, which culminated in his killing early this month in the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul.

Read more at: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/mideast/khashoggi-met-crown-prince-s-brother-amid-efforts-return-him-n923031

Khashoggi killing a 'political murder': Erdogan
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2018/10/khashoggi-killing-planned-turkish-president-erdogan-181023100141253.html

[edpc]

Mike Pompeo: The US has identified "some of the individuals responsible" for Khashoggi's death


Speaking at the State Department Tuesday afternoon about the death of Jamal Khashoggi, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the US has identified “at least some of the individuals responsible including those in the intelligence services, the royal court, the foreign ministry and other Saudi ministries.”

On top of revoking visas, Pompeo said the US is also “taking appropriate actions," including potential sanctions. "These penalties will not be the last word on this matter from the United States," he said.

President Trump has been reluctant to criticize Saudi Arabia, insisting several times in the past week that people should give Saudi Arabia the benefit of the doubt. Pompeo, too, stressed the US' "strong partnership" and "shared strategic interests" with Saudi Arabia.

However, Pompeo took a harder line than previous White House statements.

"We are making very clear that the United States does not tolerate this kind of ruthless action to silence Mr. Khashoggi ... Neither the President nor I am happy with this situation," he said.

https://www.cnn.com/middleeast/live-news/saudi-journalist-jamal-khashoggi-missing/h_e8fab56065110c0811acdf8877f5b67c

[edpc]

Changing story again, Saudi Arabia says killing was planned

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) — Saudi prosecutors say the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi was planned, state-run media reported Thursday, reflecting yet another change in the shifting Saudi Arabian account of what happened to the writer who was killed by Saudi officials in their Istanbul consulate.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/turkish-probe-khashoggi-killing-turns-garden-well-092056828.html

[TomSea]

FWIW:

Jamal Khashoggi's son leaves Saudi Arabia for US
Salah Khashoggi had been under a travel ban imposed on him by the kingdom to pressure his father

The son of murdered Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi has left Saudi Arabia after having originally been prevented from leaving the country by a travel ban.

Salah Khashoggi and his family arrived on Thursday in Washington on a flight from Saudi Arabia, according to two sources close to the family, speaking to Reuters.

Khashoggi, a dual US-Saudi citizen, had his passport restricted by the kingdom earlier in the year.

More: https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/son-jamal-khashoggi-leaves-saudi-arabia-report-1805999611

Saudi Arabia carried out 'extrajudicial execution' on Khashoggi: UN expert

Agnes Callamard, UN special rapporteur on extrajudicial executions, says perpetrators 'are high enough to represent the state'

https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/saudi-arabia-committed-extrajudicial-execution-khashoggi-un-investigator-2022831457

Sure looks like it.

[bigheadfred]

This a nothing burger. Times 10.

You aren't reading history.

[TomSea]

Trump invited Khashoggi's fiance to the WH; and apparently, she turned it down.
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/trump-invitation-jamal-khashoggi-fiancee_us_5bd3a04ee4b0a8f17ef7b9c8

Turkey seeks extradition of the suspects, asks "where is the body", some inferences have been he could have been beheaded which would be macabre.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/jamal-khashoggi-turkey-seeks-extradition-suspects-killing-saudi-arabia/

[TomSea]

The Saudis, Khashoggi and Stalin: Why Does One Death Count More Than Thousands?
Khashoggi's murder developed into a grotesque true crime drama. But, like Stalin, the prince allegedly behind it might find ways to turn the horror to his advantage.
Michael Weiss   10.26.18



Joseph Stalin, who knew a thing or two about murder, is often (albeit controversially) credited with uttering two famous aphorisms on the subject. “The death of one man is a tragedy, the death of millions is a statistic,” he said, but then again, “Death solves all problems: no man, no problem.”

Both observations have unfortunate relevance today as we consider the case of the late Jamal Khashoggi. It began with the powerful Saudi crown prince thinking he’d solve a problem by disappearing a critic, was quickly revealed as murder and then perceived as a tragedy. It has since developed into a grotesque true crime drama gripping audiences week after week. But, like Stalin, the prince allegedly behind it might find ways to turn the horror to his advantage.

How is it, many pundits ask, that the savage torture and murder of one Washington Post columnist has called down a torrent of contempt on the House of Saud whereas a long, well-documented history of the latter’s human rights abuses at home and war crimes abroad have not? What about Yemen, and why isn’t that humanitarian catastrophe dominating headlines and 24-hour cable news shows? And how come Americans who’ve spent the last fortnight learning how to correctly pronounce Jamal Khashoggi never learned how to pronounce Raif Badawi, the name of the Saudi blogger who languished in prison for “apostasy” for years before being flogged 1,000 times over the course of twenty weeks in 2015?

Read more at: https://www.thedailybeast.com/the-saudis-khashoggi-and-stalin-why-does-one-death-count-more-than-thousands?via=twitter_page

Maybe some sense to the article and over-dramatization; but somewhat worth knowing still.

[TomSea]

‘PUTIN OF THE DESERT’
The Real Reasons Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman Wanted Khashoggi ‘Dead or Alive’
His death is key to understanding the political forces that helped turn the Middle East from a region of hope seven years ago to one of brutal repression and slaughter today.
Christopher Dickey    10.21.18

PARIS — The mind plays strange tricks sometimes, especially after a tragedy. When I sat down to write this story about the Saudi regime’s homicidal obsession with the Muslim Brotherhood, the first person I thought I’d call was Jamal Khashoggi. For more than 20 years I phoned him or met with him, even smoked the occasional water pipe with him, as I looked for a better understanding of his country, its people, its leaders, and the Middle East. We often disagreed, but he almost always gave me fresh insights into the major figures of the region, starting with Osama bin Laden in the 1990s, and the political trends, especially the explosion of hope that was called the Arab Spring in 2011. He would be just the man to talk to about the Saudis and the Muslim Brotherhood, because he knew both sides of that bitter relationship so well.

And then, of course, I realized that Jamal is dead, murdered precisely because he knew too much.

Although the stories keep changing, there is now no doubt that 33-year-old Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the power in front of his decrepit father’s throne, had put out word to his minions that he wanted Khashoggi silenced, and the hit-team allegedly understood that as “wanted dead or alive.” But the [petro]buck stops with MBS, as bin Salman’s called. He’s responsible for a gruesome murder just as Henry II was responsible for the murder of Thomas Becket when he said, “Who will rid me of that meddlesome priest?” In this case, a meddlesome journalist.

Read more at: https://www.thedailybeast.com/the-real-reasons-saudi-crown-prince-mohammed-bin-salman-wanted-khashoggi-dead

[TomSea]

Actually, a number of decent articles from the Daily Beast, another one.  You know, the Turks were offered rumor has it, a pretty decent bribe to let all this be swept under the rug but they rejected it according to stories.

The Saudi Butcher Stole a Page From the Crew That Ran Hell’s Kitchen
The Saudis do not seem to have followed the usual Irish-American mob protocol of waiting for the blood to congeal before cutting up the corpse.
Michael Daly  10.23.18


When Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman took over the whole Plaza Hotel in March, he seemed to be just another Saudi royal with a sense of entitlement to match his riches.

But upon learning that a gay wedding was scheduled for the Plaza that same weekend, the prince known as MBS agreed to let the ceremony and the ensuing celebration go ahead as planned. He seemed like he might not be just another rich Saudi after all.

Nobody imagined that he would prove to be just another gangster, with a crew that appears to have employed the same method of body disposal as the Irish-American mob that once operated five blocks crosstown from the Plaza.

Back in the 1970s, the Irish-American mob in Hell’s Kitchen included Edward “The Butcher” Cummiskey. .... Read more at: https://www.thedailybeast.com/the-saudi-butcher-stole-a-page-from-the-crew-that-ran-hells-kitchen

[endicom]

That wasn't just in Hell's Kitchen. A crew in Brooklyn was doing the same. Maybe everyone was doing it.

[TomSea]

Bilal Khan Buneri
‏ @BilalKhN8060
19h19 hours ago

These photos are from April 25, 1992 when War Criminal Gulbuddin Hekmatyar known as Butcher of Kabul was planning attacks on innocent people in Kabul. Slain Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi was very close to Hekmatyar and could join him in secret meetings.
#khashoggi

https://twitter.com/BilalKhN8060/status/1055792100791513088

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gulbuddin_Hekmatyar

--------------------

lachtoday
‏ @lachtodaydotcom
13h13 hours ago

#Khashoggi case joins other disappearances of #Saudi princes
http://www.lachtoday.com/khashoggi-case-joins-other-disappearances/ …

https://twitter.com/lachtodaydotcom/status/1055884496900362241

http://www.lachtoday.com/khashoggi-case-joins-other-disappearances/
Khashoggi case joins other disappearances of Saudi princes

[TomSea]

CROSSOVER EVENT
Saudi Spy Met With Team Trump About Taking Down Iran
Mueller’s investigators examined a series of meetings between an Israeli social media strategist, the general blamed for Jamal Khashoggi’s murder, and Trump adviser Michael Flynn.
Betsy Woodruff,
Erin Banco
10.25.18 1:00 PM ET


Gen. Ahmed al-Assiri, the Saudi intelligence chief taking the fall for the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, hobnobbed in New York with Michael Flynn and other members of the transition team shortly before Trump’s inauguration. The topic of their discussion: regime change in Iran.

Mohammed bin Salman, the powerful Saudi crown prince, dispatched Assiri from Riyadh for the meetings, which took place over the course of two days in early January 2017, according to communications reviewed by The Daily Beast. The January meetings have come under scrutiny by special counsel Robert Mueller’s office as part of his probe into foreign governments’ attempts to gain influence in the Trump campaign and in the White House, an individual familiar with the investigation told The Daily Beast. A spokesperson for Mueller declined to comment.

The New York meetings were attended and brokered by George Nader, a Lebanese-American with close ties to leaders in the United Arab Emirates who is currently cooperating with Mueller’s team. Also present at the meetings was Israeli social media strategist Joel Zamel, who has been questioned by Mueller for his role in pitching top campaign officials on an influence operation to help Trump win the election—overtures that could have broken federal election laws.

Steve Bannon was involved as well in conversations on Iran regime change during those two days in January, according to the communications.

More: https://www.thedailybeast.com/saudi-spy-met-with-team-trump-about-taking-down-iran

Gen. Ahmed al-Assiri, man on the left in the picture, got fired in the aftermath of this Khashoggi matter. Rather interesting.

[TomSea]

Saudi Foreign Minister: Kashoggi case suspects will stay in Saudi Arabia
By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
October 27, 2018
https://www.jpost.com/Breaking-News/Saudi-Foreign-Minister-Kashoggi-case-suspects-will-stay-in-Saudi-Arabia-570424?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter

[TomSea]

Rand Paul slams Saudi Arabia at Montana rally with Trump Jr.: 'Remember who attacked us on 9/11'
By Louis Casiano | Fox News

U.S. Sen. Rand Paul is intent on blocking a $110 billion arms sale with Saudi Arabia, which he labeled as a sponsor of terrorism during a Montana rally with Donald Trump Jr. on Saturday.

Paul, R-Ky., a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, told a crowd in Missoula that the U.S. can no longer look away from Saudi Arabia’s bad behavior. His comments came during an event for Republican U.S. Senate candidate Matt Rosendale, the Hill reported.

“We have to think through this idea that everything is going to be blindly for Saudi Arabia. They’re involved in a war in Yemen where tens of thousands of civilians are dying,” Paul said.

Continue reading at: https://www.foxnews.com/politics/rand-paul-slams-saudi-arabia-at-montana-rally-with-trump-jr-remember-who-attacked-us-on-9-11

[TomSea]

Why Egypt’s Exiles Are Especially Terrified
They are anxiously watching how the U.S. responds to the Saudis’ killing of Jamal Khashoggi.
By Eli Lake
October 26, 2018

For the last six years, Nancy Okail has led a relatively safe life in exile. As the executive director of the Tahrir Institute for Middle East Policy, she had a high enough profile that she didn’t worry too much about the anonymous threats and harassment directed by the Egyptian regime she fled.

Then Jamal Khashoggi was killed. “I knew Jamal,” she told me in an interview this week. They were both part of a tight circle of Arab dissidents living in and around Washington. If his murder is blamed on anyone other than Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, she said, “then this is a license to kill all of us.”

As Khashoggi was, Okail is a permanent U.S. resident. In 2013 she was tried in absentia in the first major public trial of employees of foreign-funded non-governmental organizations after Egypt’s 2011 revolution. As she was held in a cage before her trial, she recalled, she read “Homage to Catalonia,” George Orwell’s devastating account of the depravities of fascists and communists in the Spanish civil war.

So it’s easy to see why Okail frets. She knows that Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi, like the rest of the world, is watching the U.S. response to Saudi Arabia. If the U.S. punishes Saudi Arabia lightly for the Khashoggi murder, Okail says, El-Sisi and other Arab leaders will see it as permission to go after dissidents living abroad.

Read more at: https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2018-10-26/jamal-khashoggi-killing-egyptian-exiles-watching-with-dread

[TomSea]

Totally uncorroborated (anonymous source), I believe this looks like a UK journalist reporting this. Looks like the original article was in the "Express", so a so-called "Red Top" but it does not necessarily mean it's false.

Khashoggi killed over plans to expose Saudi chemical attacks

By Sheetal Sukhija, Big News Network
29th October 2018,
LONDON, U.K. - Over the last few days, a complicated diplomatic conflict has taken hold of a case involving a cold blood murder - in an attempt to shift the focus of the world from the criminal act to a possible punishment for those behind it.

Yet, amid vague proclamations to punish the murderers and bold statements vowing the deliverance of justice - attempts to understand the reasons that sealed the fate of 59-year-old veteran Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi seem to be lost.

On Saturday night, a shocking expose emerged in a report in the Sunday Express, that has possibly reversed the course of a complicated case, that has, over the last month, appeared to be unsolvable.

More: https://www.bignewsnetwork.com/news/258206796/khashoggi-killed-over-plans-to-expose-saudi-chemical-attacks

Okay, it is in this story, discussion of the use of chemical weapons in Yemen.

https://www.express.co.uk/news/world/1037378/Khashoggi-murder-news-saudi-arabia-chemical-weapons-use

Khashoggi BOMBSHELL: Britain 'KNEW of kidnap plot and BEGGED Saudi Arabia to abort plans'
Marco Giannangeli, Diplomatic Editor

Intercepts by GCHQ of internal communications by the kingdom’s General Intelligence Directorate revealed orders by a “member of the royal circle” to abduct the troublesome journalist and take him back to Saudi Arabia.

The orders, intelligence sources say, did not emanate directly from de facto ruler Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman, and it is not known if he was aware of them.

Though they commanded that Khashoggi should be abducted and taken back to Riyadh, they “left the door open” for other actions should the journalist prove to be troublesome, sources said.

The article talks about "chemical weapons" a few paragraphs down at link. Something to file away, in case, anything comes of this. Just hearsay for now, in turn, it would be a real blockbuster if true.

[TomSea]

Ragıp Soylu
‏Verified account @ragipsoylu
42m42 minutes ago

White House to make a written statement on #Khashoggi after analysing the information CIA Director Haspel  gathered from Turkey, Spox Sanders says
8 replies 49 retweets 48 likes

Laura Rozen
‏ @lrozen

Sanders won’t confirm or deny if CIA director Gina Haspel heard alleged audio tape of Khashoggi in Saudi consulate when she was in Turkey

https://twitter.com/ragipsoylu

Still an important story... to keep updated with. Unstickied.

[TomSea]

EXCLUSIVE: Saudi dissident prince flies home to tackle MBS succession
Prince Ahmad bin Abdulaziz returns to Riyadh with UK and US security guarantees and a brief to cut the crown prince down to size
David Hearst
Tuesday 30 October 2018 16:46 UTC

Prince Ahmad bin Abdulaziz at a press conference in Mecca in 2012. (AFP)
Prince Ahmad bin Abdulaziz, the younger brother of King Salman, has returned to Saudi Arabia after a prolonged absence in London, to mount a challenge to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman or find someone who can.

The septuagenarian prince, an open critic of bin Salman (MBS), has travelled with security guarantees given by US and UK officials.

“He and others in the family have realised that MBS has become toxic,” a Saudi source close to Prince Ahmad told Middle East Eye.

Read more at: https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/exclusive-saudi-dissident-prince-flies-home-tackle-mbs-succession-58983364

[WarmPotato]

The Saudis are f^cking crazy

[TomSea]

MBS described Khashoggi as 'dangerous Islamist' in call with top US officials: Report
Jamal Khashoggi's family flatly rejects Saudi crown prince's claim slain journalist was Muslim Brotherhood member, Washington Post reports

Mohammed bin Salman described Jamal Khashoggi as a "dangerous Islamist" in a phone call with top White House officials shortly after the Saudi journalist disappeared, the Washington Post has reported, a claim that Khashoggi’s family has flatly denied.

Citing unidentified sources with knowledge of the discussion, the Post report said the phone call took place between the powerful Saudi crown prince and Jared Kushner, Donald Trump's son-in-law, and the US president's national security adviser, John Bolton, only a few days after Khashoggi disappeared on 2 October.

In the call, bin Salman, also known as MBS, urged Kushner and Bolton to preserve strong US-Saudi ties, the newspaper reported.

Continued: https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/mbs-khashoggi-islamist-report-1739992155

[edpc]

There's no reason for MBS to go there and attempt justification, unless he was involved.  All he had to do was stick to the rogue operation story and plead ignorance.

[bigheadfred]

There's no reason for MBS to go there and attempt justification, unless he was involved.  All he had to do was stick to the rogue operation story and plead ignorance.

Which Bush are you looking for the bird in?

This thread is for shit.

Any follower (member) of Islam is a target. EVERY ONE. Down to the last suckling pig.

And every apologetic the same.

[TomSea]

You never post here in world news, @bigheadfred

I don't see what your hang up is to speak about this here. It affects a lot of people.

[TomSea]

Ragıp Soylu
‏
Verified account
 
@ragipsoylu
Follow Follow @ragipsoylu
More
#Khashoggi update by Washington Post:

• Saudi Attorney General wanted to check Khashoggi’s cell phones, to chase other activists?
• Saudi Crown Prince MbS described Khashoggi as dangerous Islamist in calls to Kushner/Bolton
•Sisi/Netanyahu reached out Trump adm to support MbS

https://twitter.com/ragipsoylu?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor