Saudi crown prince’s bloody war, gruesome torture of journalist

This video says about itself:

🇸🇦The dark side of Saudi Arabia’s crown prince l Al Jazeera English

17 October 2018

Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince, Mohammed bin Salman, has been on a quick rise to power and has been touted as a progressive reformer.

But his human rights record casts a dark shadow on his economic and social reforms.

Here are 8 things that have gone wrong since MBS started his ascent to power:

1. War in Yemen
2. Detention of Lebanon’s PM
3. Ritz-Carlton purge
4. GCC crisis and blockade of Qatar
5. Jailed women’s rights activists
6. Diplomatic spat with Canada
7. Rise of executions in the kingdom
8. Disappearance of Jamal Khashoggi

The number of execution in the kingdom has rapidly increased lately.

According to human rights organisations, MBS has overseen the execution of 16 people on average per month every month.

If this rate continues, 2018 could see 200 executions.

That is the highest number ever recorded in Saudi Arabia in one year.

In October 2018, Saudi journalist and MBS critic Jamal Khashoggi enters a Saudi consulate in Istanbul and never comes out. Pressure is mounting on Saudi Arabia to reveal what happened to Khashoggi. World leaders have demanded a thorough and transparent investigation.

Translated from Dutch NOS TV today:

Khashoggi said to have been tortured in the presence of the consul: ‘You are causing me problems’

The Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi is said to have been tortured in the presence of the Saudi consul in Istanbul, Mohammed al-Otaibi. The Turkish newspaper Yeni Sefak … basing itself on the sound recordings that Khashoggi is said to have made in the consulate with his smart watch.

Press agency Reuters reported earlier today on the basis of Saudi media that Al-Otaibi, who had meanwhile returned to his homeland, had been sacked and that he would be investigated whether he had committed “violations”. An hour later Reuters retracted that message. Meanwhile, Turkish police arrived at the official residence of the Saudi consul to conduct research there.

According to Yeni Sefak, the sound recordings do not only tell how the journalist is killed, but the voice of Al-Otaibi can also be recognized. “Do this outside, you cause me trouble,” he is said to have told the men who were torturing Khashoggi in his office.

One of the men then snarled towards the consul: “Keep your mouth shut if you want to stay alive when you return to Saudi Arabia”.

Horrific details

The American newspaper The Wall Street Journal spoke to a Turkish government source that also has the sound recording. It states that Al-Otaibi was subsequently driven from his office, after which the torturing of Khashoggi continued – including including chopping off his fingers – and he was killed.

The recording is also said to show how the forensic expert the Saudis had sent to Turkey

Oh yeah, ‘Dr’ Salah al-Tubaigy. The murderer Leatherface in the horror movie The Texas Chainsaw Massacre is fortunately a fictional character. Unfortunately, the Istanbul bone saw murderous ghoul Salah al-Tubaigy is real.

put on headphones with music when he started cutting the body into pieces, and he advised the other men to do the same. …

Death squad

Khashoggi disappeared on October 2 when he wanted to arrange papers at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. He was a columnist for The Washington Post and wrote critically about the Saudi crown prince.

Earlier, a group of fifteen men had already been identified by Turkey as the ‘death squad’ of the journalist. The men arrived in Turkey shortly before the disappearance of Khashoggi, visited the consulate and left the country immediately after the disappearance of the journalist.

Today it turned out that certainly one of the men of the presumed death squad was traveling on foreign trips of crown prince Mohammed bin Salman as a security guard. Three others are also associated with the security of the crown prince. A fifth man is a forensic doctor who works at the Saudi Ministry of the Interior.

On Monday, the Turks searched the consulate, finding “certain evidence” that Khashoggi had been killed.

This 17 October 2018 video from the USA says about itself:

Message from [Senator] Bernie [Sanders]: Stop Supporting the War in Yemen

The recent disappearance and likely assassination of Jamal Khashoggi only underscores how urgent it has become for the United States to redefine our relationship with Saudi Arabia and end our support for the war in Yemen.

TRUMP CRITICIZES SAUDI ACCUSERS Donald Trump has defended Saudi Arabia against mounting global condemnation over missing journalist Jamal Khashoggi, claiming the kingdom is being unfairly viewed as “guilty until proven innocent.” Trump’s comments came amid new reports that Khashoggi was killed and dismembered in a plot organized by a high-ranking officer in Saudi Arabia’s main intelligence service. [HuffPost]

KUSHNER LEADING KHASHOGGI RESPONSE A senior Trump administration official claims that White House senior adviser Jared Kushner is playing a critical role in formulating the White House response to the disappearance of Khashoggi, including direct phone conversations with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman about the crisis. [HuffPost]

Khashoggi’s last column: here.