The Saudi crown prince’s social media maven is being accused of ordering the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi over Skype, Reuters reports. Saud al-Qahtani,…
The Saudi crown prince’s social media maven is being accused of ordering the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi over Skype, Reuters reports.
Saud al-Qahtani, a top aide for prince Mohammad bin Salman, Skyped in to the Saudi consulate in Turkey just before Khashoggi was killed and berated the journalist, who has been critical of Saudi government, a high-ranking Saudi source told the outlet .
Khashoggi reportedly returned the invective, but that only infuriated al-Qahtani — and eventually led to his issuing orders to kill Khashoggi, Turkish sources told Reuters.
“Bring me the head of the dog,” al-Qahtani reportedly instructed the 15 Saudi intelligence operatives who’d been flown in hours before to physically interrogate Khashoggi.
The report described al-Qahtani as one of the fall guys in the case. King Salman had fired Qahtani and four other officials Saturday over the killing.
Qahtani himself once said he would never do anything without his boss’s approval.
“Do you think I make decisions without guidance? I am an employee and a faithful executor of the orders of my lord the king and my lord the faithful crown prince,” Qahtani tweeted last summer.
It is not clear whether he observed the killing.
Sources told Reuters that Turkey’s President Recep-Tayyip Erdogan has a copy of the call’s audio. He has also said he plans to release information about the killing during a Tuesday press conference — though Turkish officials wouldn’t say whether the audio will be released.
CIA Director Gina Haspel will travel to Turkey to aid in the investigation, officials told NBC.
