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New footage appears to show Saudi suspect wearing Jamal Khashoggi’s clothing

Videos have emerged of a Saudi suspected of being behind Jamal Khashoggi’s murder walking around Istanbul in the journalist’s clothes shortly after he was last seen.

In footage released by CNN, Mustafa al-Madani, one of 15 Saudis who is believed to have travelled to Istanbul from Riyadh with the intention of killing critic Khashoggi, is seen wearing the journalist’s shirt, trousers, jacket and glasses.

 

He also appears to be wearing a fake beard and his own shoes.

Madani, along with an accomplice, is seen walking to the central Sultan Ahmed Mosque, commonly known as the Blue Mosque, which he disappears into for a short amount of time.

Soon after, Madani reappears wearing the same clothes that he was wearing when cameras captured him entering the consulate at 11:03am, two hours before Khashoggi arrived.

The footage then shows Madani and the accomplice laughing and relaxed as they make their way back to the consulate.

On the way, they dumped a plastic bag, likely containing Khashoggi’s clothes, in a rubbish bin.

A source close to the Turkish investigation told Middle East Eye that once the two men returned, the Saudi hit squad reviewed footage of the imposter on the consulate’s own CCTV cameras.

According to the source, it was decided that the two men did not look sufficiently alike, and so the conspirators decided to wipe clean the consulate’s CCTV footage.

The source said dressing Madani up as Khashoggi and claiming he left the building was a plan hatched before Khashoggi’s death, and shows that his killing was premeditated.

Employees interviewed

Five Turkish employees of the Saudi consulate in Istanbul gave witness statements on Monday to investigators probing Khashoggi’s killing.

The five employees join 20 others already interviewed last week. Investigators are seeking to take statements from all 45 consulate workers within the coming days.

The Saudi consulate in Istanbul. (Reuters)

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced over the weekend that he will reveal the “naked truth” behind Khashoggi’s killing on Tuesday.

"We are looking for justice here and this will be revealed in all its naked truth, not through some ordinary steps but in all its naked truth," he told a rally in Istanbul on Sunday.

His statement to a parliamentary committee will coincide with the opening of a major investment conference in Riyadh that has seen several world and business leaders pull out as the scandal around Khashoggi’s death grows.

Saudi Arabia has sought to check the fallout by arresting 18 people suspected of killing Khashoggi, dismissing two top officials and claiming the journalist and government critic died accidentally after being put in a chokehold.

However on Sunday, Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir further muddied the waters by saying that in fact the kingdom didn’t know how the Washington Post columnist died.

Jubeir added that the Saudi government did not know the whereabouts of Khashoggi’s body.

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Source: middleeasteye

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