JOURNALIST Jamal Khashoggi disappeared after entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on October 2, 2018.

It was weeks before the Kingdom admitted to murdering the 59-year-old Washington Post columnist, but who ordered the killing, and who delivered the fateful blow remain a mystery. Here are the suspects.

Who murdered Jamal Khashoggi?

Despite attempts by Saudi Arabia to muddy the water, including sending out a body double of the journalist from the embassy to confuse investigators and claiming Khashoggi was killed by accident in a fight, the increasing blame is focused on the Saudi Arabian defacto leader Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

The CIA has concluded the prince ordered the assassination.

The finding contradicts Saudi government assertions that he was not involved, and that the murder was ordered by an intelligence officer.

The Washington Post reported US officials have expressed high confidence in the CIA assessment, which is the most definitive to date linking Saudi Arabia's de facto ruler to the killing.

The investigation and conclusion is sure to complicate President Donald Trump's efforts to preserve ties with one of the closest American allies in the region.

It is also shaping up to create a new rift between the president and his own intelligence service.

On November 18 Trump said he had seen no evidence that the killing had been ordered by bin Salman, a pronouncement he made after saying he wouldn't listen to a supposed tape of the murder which Turkish authorities claim to possess.

Turkish authorities have said the assassination was carried out by a hit squad of as many as

The perpetrators are meanwhile slowly being rounded up by the Saudis.

Saudi Arabia’s public prosecutor announced in mid-November that he was seeking the death penalty for five out of 11 suspects charged.

Deputy public prosecutor Shaalan al-Shaalan said 11 out of 21 suspects have been indicted and that their cases will be referred to court.

He claimed General Ahmed al-Assiri, the former deputy chief of Saudi intelligence, had ordered a 15-man team on a mission to the Turkish city to force Khashoggi to go back to Saudi Arabia.

They were divided into three groups — a negotiating team, an intelligence team and a logistical team, he added.

“The head of the negotiating team” that flew to Istanbul had ordered the murder of the Washington Post columnist, who entered the consulate to pick up documents for his planned marriage.

Turkish authorities have said the 15-man team should be flown to Turkey for trial, and said the killing was premeditated and that equipment was brought into Turkey to dismember the body.

In their most recent statement, Turkey has suggested that the journalist's body was possibly carried out of the country in diplomatic bags.

• BBC Panorama's 'The Khashoggi Murder Tapes' airs September 30, 2019

Saudi agent caught on CCTV leaving Saudi embassy wearing Jamal Khashoggi's clothes and FAKE beard

Source: Read Full Article