Affaire kashoggi

Affaire Khashoggi

The scenario of a disappearance has become that of a murder, the consequences of which could be heavy. Jamal Khashoggi, a well-known Saudi journalist, has vanished when he went to the consulate of Saudi Arabia in Istanbul in early October. It seems to be dead, admitted US President Donald Trump himself, thursday night. The scandal around a possible responsibility of Riyadh continues to swell and become clearer.

Who is Jamal Khashoggi?

Jamal Khashoggi, who should have turned 60 on October 13, was at the beginning of his career close to the Saudi princely family. But his progressive positions have repeatedly overtaken him, exiled in the United States since a wave of arrests in the Saudi kingdom, in 2017, Jamal Khashoggi was not hiding to criticize the Saudi involvement in the war in Yemen or the embargo imposed on neighboring Qatar. The Saudi authorities had asked him to stop using his Twitter account to criticize them.

What do we know about the circumstances of his disappearance?

On 2 October, Jamal Khashoggi entered the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul to initiate an administrative procedure for his marriage to a Turk, Hatice Cengiz. He was never seen alive after. Turkish police believe that the journalist was killed by a team of 15 people who came specifically from Saudi Arabia and who returned the same day. Images broadcast by television channels have since shown the arrival of a group of Saudis at the consulate and a van in the premises.

According to several Turkish newspapers, which claim to rely on sound recordings made on the spot, the journalist was tortured then "beheaded". The Middle East Eye site reports atrocious cries heard by a witness and indicates that his fingers were cut while he was still alive.

In what does the case involve the Saudi Crown Prince?

Maher Abdulaziz Mutreb, a security services officer close to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, nicknamed "MBS", was identified by the Turkish authorities as one of the "commando" members of the Saudi consulate. The Turkish media published images from CCTV cameras, tracing its movements in Istanbul before and after the events.

"What has been reported about orders to kill Jamal Kashoggi is a lie and an unfounded allegation," the regime responded by the voice of its Interior Minister Abdel Aziz Ben Saud Ben Nayef last Saturday. But according to the New York Times, the monarchy would consider wearing the hat to a senior intelligence official, adviser of "MBS", which could serve as a fuse.

Robert Mahoney, deputy executive director of the Committee to Protect Journalists, called for the UN to oversee the investigation "given the possible involvement of the Saudi authorities in Khashoggi's enforced disappearance."

What could be the consequences for Riyadh?

While investors were still excited a few weeks ago pharaonic economic projects of the crown prince, the Khashoggi case seems to have cooled some, like the British billionaire Richard Branson, who announced freeze several projects in the kingdom. On the diplomatic front, Donald Trump's latest statements, which had highlighted the strategic interests linking his country to the Sunni kingdom at the start of the scandal, seem to be turning a corner. The United States now threatens Riyadh with "serious consequences" if its responsibility is confirmed and US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin has announced he will not attend an economic summit in the Saudi capital , presented like the "desert Davos". A growing number of personalities have made the same decision.

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