Turkey questions staff of Saudi consulate on Khashoggi case

ISTANBUL

Turkish prosecutors have begun questioning a number of employees of the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul over the disappearance of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, according to Turkey’s state-run Anadolu Agency.

As many as 15 Turkish employees were being questioned on Oct. 19, the report said, adding that the consul’s driver, technicians, accountants and telephone operators were among the ones who were cross-examined by several prosecutors.

Khashoggi was last seen entering the consulate on Oct. 2. Reports say Khashoggi was murdered and dismembered inside the consulate by members of an assassination squad.

Meanwhile, a former head of Britain’s MI6 overseas intelligence agency said Khashoggi was probably killed on the orders of people close to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

John Sawers, who headed MI6 between 2009 and 2014, said "all the evidence points to it being ordered and carried out" by people close to Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler.

Sawers told the BBC that "I don’t think he would have done this if he hadn’t thought he had license from the U.S. administration to frankly behave as he wished to do so."

Sawyers said the fate of Khashoggi was a wake-up call to the Trump administration about "just how dangerous it is to have people acting with a sense that they have impunity in their relationship with United States."