CIA chief in Turkey to aid murky Khashoggi investigation

CIA director Gina Haspel headed to Turkey on Monday to assist with further investigations into the death of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

MENA

2 min read

The New Arab

23 October, 2018

Gina Haspel pictured at her Senate confirmation hearing in May [Getty]

The head of the CIA Gina Haspel flew to Turkey on Monday to help with the investigation into the death of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, Reuters reported, after US President Donald Trump said he was "not satisfied" with the Saudi authorities' explanation given for his mysterious death in their consulate in Istanbul.

Three weeks after Khashoggi went missing after entering the consulate, the full picture of what happened to the dissident journalist is still unclear.

Details of Haspel's trip were not immediately clear, however it follows international outrage over the death of the journalist and US resident, and its alleged cover-up.

Turkish media leaked graphic details of the state investigation into the disappearance, alleging he was brutally murdered and his body dismembered after he was tortured inside the consulate in a pre-meditated attack.

Erdogan has warned he will reveal the "naked truth" over the incident later on Tuesday.

After two weeks of denial, Saudi Arabia finally admitted he died inside their mission, alleging the 59-year-old got into a "fist fight" with a group of 15 secret service interrogators.

Khashoggi had originally gone to the consulate to pick up a document he needed for his forthcoming marriage to Turkish citizen Hadice Cengiz.

Several US officials told Reuters on Monday they had confidence the Saudi crown prince, also the country's de facto ruler, had ordered the journalist's abduction, as he is the overseer of the Saudi security apparatus. However the officials said they lacked definite proof.

Asked on Friday if he was convinced by Saudi Arabia's explanation, Donald Trump said: "I am not satisfied with what I've heard."

"We're going to get to the bottom of it. We have people over in Saudi Arabia now. We have top intelligence people in Turkey. They're coming back either tonight or tomorrow," Trump told reporters at the White House.

"We're going to know a lot over the next two days about the Saudi situation," he added. "It's a very sad thing."