Donald Trump says, Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi looks like dead

Jamal Khashoggi  is disappeared last October 2nd, this man was last seen in Istanbul (Turkey), at the consulate of Saudi Arabia. His fate today makes little doubt, despite the denials of the Saudi monarchy.

Jamal Khashoggi "looks like" to be dead, US President Donald Trump said Thursday, Oct. 18 at Andrews Air Force Air Force Base. "It's very sad," he added in response to a reporter who questioned him about the fate of the Saudi journalist who died on October 2 at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, Turkey. The US president said he expects the conclusions of three different investigations, without specifying which, but he believes that the consequences "should be very, very severe" if the involvement of the Saudi authorities is confirmed.

"It's a bad thing and the consequences will be serious," he told the New York Times in an interview with the Oval Office of the White House. This thesis is based on "information coming from all sides," he says.

These statements follow an interview between Donald and his Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, returning from Saudi Arabia and Turkey. The head of the American diplomacy had met during his trip King Salman of Saudi Arabia and Crown Prince Mohamed bin Salman.

In Istanbul, the Turkish investigators left the premises of the consulate in the morning after a new search. The vehicles belonging to the diplomatic representation were also searched and examined. Previously, the Turkish police had spent nine hours in the consul's residence, in the presence of Saudi investigators.

Several NGOs call for UN investigator
The Yeni Safak newspaper, close to the Turkish government, has transcribed excerpts from an audio recording stating, according to him, that Jamal Khashoggi was interrogated and tortured. According to sources close to the Turkish security services, the journalist was killed by a team of fifteen Saudi men who returned home the same day.

The New York Times, based on testimonies and documents (in English), writes that four of these suspects belong to the security staff of the Crown Prince. Images from CCTV cameras include the movements in Istanbul of a security officer close to Mohammed bin Salman, according to the American newspaper.

NGOs Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, Committee to Protect Journalists, and Reporters Without Borders have called for the launch of a UN investigation into the disappearance of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi. Its purpose should be to identify whoever will be responsible for ordering, planning and executing an operation related to this case, say these NGOs.

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