Saudis Now Admit Journalist’s Murder Was Planned

The New York Times reports:



Saudi Arabia’s public prosecutor said on Thursday that new evidence indicated that the killing of the Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi had been “premeditated,” suggesting yet another shift in the kingdom’s official story of how he was killed.

For weeks after Mr. Khashoggi disappeared on Oct. 2, Saudi officials insisted that he had left the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul alive and well that day. Later, officials hinted that he might have fallen victim to “rogue” agents of the kingdom.

On Saturday, Saudi officials acknowledged that a 15-man team had flown to Turkey to confront Mr. Khashoggi inside the consulate, and killed him there. But they said his death was an accident, the result of a “fistfight” — when he screamed, they said, one of the men put him in a chokehold, killing him accidentally.