简体中文
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was expected to reveal the "naked truth" about what happened to Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi on Tuesday, as bizarre video footage emerged showing a member of the alleged Saudi hit squad apparently impersonating the critic after his death.
A still image taken from CCTV video and obtained by TRT World claims to show Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi arriving at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, Turkey October 2, 2018.
Meanwhile, Riyadh kicked off a major investment conference that has been hit hard by the scandal, and a top US official met with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
Here are the latest updates on the story.
Was there really a 'fistfight'?
Erdogan hinted over the weekend that he might reveal new information about Khashoggi's death at a party conference on Tuesday.
The journalist, a Washington Post contributor and critic of Prince Mohammed, was last seen entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on October 2.
An activist holds a sign and picture of missing Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi during a demonstration outside the White House in Washington, DC, October 19, 2018.
After weeks of denial, Saudi Arabia finally acknowledged on Saturday that he had been killed in what it said was a fistfight at the consulate.
Turkish sources have said however that the 59-year-old was first tortured and his body then dismembered and disposed of. They allege a 15-man special team was sent by Riyadh to take care of Khashoggi.
On Monday, the spokesman for Erdogan's Justice and Development Party (AKP) party said the reporter's murder was "extremely savagely planned."
"There has been a lot of effort to whitewash this," Omer Celik added.
An adviser to the president who was close to Khashoggi meanwhile ridiculed Saudi Arabia's latest claims, insisting: "One cannot help but wonder how there could have been a 'fistfight' between 15 young expert fighters ... and a 60-year-old Khashoggi, alone and defenseless."
"It feels like our intelligence is being mocked," Yasin Aktay wrote in the Turkish daily Yeni Safak.
Turkish police officers stand guard outside an underground car park where an abandoned car belonging to the Saudi consulate was found in Istanbul, October 22, 2018.
Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir told Fox News on Sunday that a "tremendous mistake" had been made but that Khashoggi's death was the result of a "rogue operation," unsanctioned by Riyadh.
He also insisted that Prince Mohammed, often known as MBS, was not involved, amid reports that some of the men who carried out the killing were close associates of his.
Did somebody impersonate Khashoggi?
Contradictory claims, gory details and bizarre theories have defined this case, and on Monday, new surveillance footage emerged apparently showing a man impersonating Khashoggi walking around Istanbul shortly after his death.
CNN, which obtained the footage from the Turkish investigation, said the man was part of the Saudi hit squad sent to take care of Khashoggi.
Of about the same height and build, he can be seen leaving the Saudi consulate wearing the journalist's clothes, a fake beard and glasses, and then visiting Istanbul's Blue Mosque, before changing back into his own clothes, the US network said, citing a Turkish official.
This reportedly occurred hours after Khashoggi was last seen entering the consulate.
Turkish forensics leave an underground car park after police found an abandoned car belonging to the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, October 22, 2018.
It also showed a degree of planning that contradicted one claim that Khashoggi's death was the result of an interrogation gone wrong.
"You don't need a body double for a rendition or an interrogation," the Turkish official told CNN. "Our assessment has not changed… This was a premeditated murder and the body was moved out of the consulate."
As the investigation continues in Turkey, CIA Director Gina Haspel was traveling to the country to lend a hand.
Turkish police also found an abandoned car belonging to the Saudi consulate in a parking garage in Istanbul on Monday.
Last week, investigators tracked the routes of several vehicles leaving the consulate to areas outside of the city where they believed Khashoggi's body may have been dumped. His remains have yet to be found.
How will this impact arms deals?
World leaders have increasingly weighed in on the case.
"We must get to the truth of what happened," British Prime Minister Theresa May urged on Monday.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel meanwhile condemned "the monstrosity there in the Saudi consulate in Turkey," adding that Berlin would halt all arms exports to Saudi Arabia as long as the affair hasn't been cleared up.
Canada was also prepared to freeze arms deliveries to Riyadh over human rights concerns, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said.
The US appeared to further waver in its position however. After pulling out of the FII summit last week, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin met with Prince Mohammed on Monday and the two men "stressed the importance of strategic partnership" between their two countries, Saudi state TV tweeted.
US President Donald Trump has also gone back and forth over the past week, variously threatening "severe punishment" and accusing Riyadh of telling lies, while also praising Saudi Arabia as a partner in the fight against terrorism.
(CGTN)
