Leaked video shows ‘body double’ in Khashoggi’s clothes after planned killing
The leaked video appears to show the man wearing Mr Khashoggi's clothes and a fake beard. Photo: CNN
Leaked footage has emerged showing a member of the alleged 15-man Saudi Arabian “assassination squad” exiting Istanbul’s Saudi consulate dressed in Jamal Khashoggi’s clothes on the day he was killed.
A surveillance video aired by CNN on Tuesday morning (AEST) reveals a man appearing to wear Mr Khashoggi’s dress shirt, suit jacket, trousers and a fake beard while walking out of the consulate via its back exit shortly after the Washington Post columnist was believed to have been murdered.
A Turkish official described the man as being a “body double” and a member of the Saudi team sent to Istanbul on October 2 to kill Mr Khashoggi after he entered the consulate to collect documents needed in order to get married.
The “body double”, identified by Turkish media as identified by the official as Mustafa al-Madani, is pictured later with an accomplice taking a taxi to Istanbul’s famed Sultan Ahmed Mosque, where he entered a public toilet, changed back out of the clothes and left.
Watch the leaked video below:
In response to the leaked footage, Omer Celik of Turkey’s President’s ruling AK Party, said Mr Khashoggi’s “very complicated murder” was “violently planned” and “being covered up”.
“I hope those responsible for Khashoggi’s killing are punished and no one ever thinks of repeating this,” he said.
The footage originally surfaced after it was revealed that Maher Abdulaziz Mutreba, a member of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s entourage, made four calls to his office from the consulate the day Mr Khashoggi disappeared, a Turkish newspaper reported.
It said another call went to the United States.
Saudi state media reported that both Prince Mohammed and King Salman made calls to Mr Khashoggi’s son, Salah, early on Monday morning expressing their condolences over his death.
Five Turkish employees of the Saudi consulate have also given testimonies to prosecutors, Turkish media reported.
Istanbul’s chief prosecutor summoned 28 more staff members of the Saudi consulate, including Turkish citizens and foreign nationals, to give evidence.
Some Turkish employees reportedly said they were instructed not to go to work around the time Mr Khashoggi disappeared.
Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir told Fox News on Monday that Mr Khashoggi’s killing was “a rogue operation” and that “we don’t know where the body is”.
Reports claimed the Saudis tortured Mr Khashoggi, cut off his fingers, then killed and dismembered him.
Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan has promised to detail Khashoggi’s killing “in all its nakedness”, raising international pressure on Saudi Arabia.
-With AAP