Recordings released in connection with the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi seem to depict one of the Saudi’s involved telling a superior over the phone to “tell your boss.”
The remark is believed to be mentioning Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. The recordings have been collected and supplied by Turkish intelligence.
The New York Times reports that the information has been shared with CIA director Gina Haspel, and that numerous intelligence officials view it as the strongest link to Prince Mohammed.
While the prince is not mentioned by name, the person speaking on tape is Maher Abdulaziz Mutreb, one of 15 Saudis sent to Istanbul specifically to subdue Khashoggi. Murtreb himself is a security officer who regularly travels with Prince Mohammed.
Saudi officials sent a statement to the Times denying that the crown prince “had any knowledge whatsoever” of Khashoggi’s planned killing. As to the phrase “tell your boss,” the Saudi statement listed that Turkey had “allowed our intelligence services to hear recordings, and at no moment was there any reference to the mentioned phrase in the such recordings.”
Amid ever changing claims and denials, Saudi officials now acknowledged the killing was planned in advance but claim the crown prince had no knowledge of the operation.
