Saudi Arabia admitted Thursday that dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi was a victim of “premeditated” murder.
State radio released the statement after days of denial from the Mideast kingdom and sharing an apparently concocted story of Khashoggi being killed in a brawl that broke out in the Saudi consul’s office in Istanbul, Turkey.
As The Telegraph reports, Saudi Arabia’s public prosecutor is reversing the official line, saying the information that Saudi investigators have unearthed in Turkey reveals that Khashoggi was murdered. (RELATED: Khashoggi Death Was Premeditated Murder By Saudis Says Turkish President Erdogan)
FILE PHOTO: A demonstrator holds picture of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi during a protest in front of Saudi Arabia’s consulate in Istanbul, Turkey, October 5, 2018. REUTERS/Osman Orsal
“Information from the Turkish authorities indicates that the act of the suspects in the Khashoggi case was premeditated,” reads the statement from the Saudi Press Agency. (RELATED: Saudi Doctor Prescribed Music For Those Watching Journalist Getting Beheaded, Dismembered)
The admission coincides with numerous reports that CIA Director Gina Haspel has listened to an audio recording of the murder, one the Turks have maintained proves that Khashoggi was brutally tortured, murdered and dismembered by a team of hitmen.
Central Intelligence Agency Deputy Director Gina Haspel is sworn in before the Senate Intelligence Committee during her confirmation hearing to become the next CIA director in the Hart Senate Office Building May 9, 2018 in Washington, DC. Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
Neither Turkish intelligence nor the CIA have commented on whether Haspel has heard the recording.