Khashoggi Disappearance

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Re: Khashoggi Disappearance

Postby seemslikeadream » Wed Dec 05, 2018 9:24 am

Turkish prosecutor seeks arrests of Saudis over Khashoggi murder

Ahmed Asiri and Saud al-Qahtani are among those thought to be responsible for the murder of Jamal Khashoggi.

an hour ago

Ahmed Asiri and Saud al-Qahtani both have close ties to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman [Al Jazeera]
Istanbul's chief prosecutor has filed warrants for the arrest of a top aide to Saudi Arabia's de facto ruler and the deputy head of foreign intelligence on suspicion of planning the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

The prosecutor's office concluded that there is "strong suspicion" that Saud al-Qahtani and Ahmed Asiri, who were both removed from their positions following the murder, were among the planners of the murder, two Turkish officials said on Wednesday.

Jamal Khashoggi, a United States resident and columnist for the Washington Post, was killed shortly after entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on October 2.

"The prosecution's move to issue arrest warrants for Asiri and Qahtani reflects the view that the Saudi authorities won't take formal action against those individuals," one of the officials told Reuters news agency.

The official added that Saudi Arabia could address the international concern by extraditing all suspects in the case to Turkey.

According to AFP news agency, the application for the warrants was filed on Tuesday.

At the time of publication, Saudi Arabia had not publicly responded to the request.


Al-Qahtani worked as a media adviser to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman [Al Jazeera]
The Saudi prosecution has previously acknowledged that al-Qahtani and Asiri were part of the plot to kill Khashoggi.

The two men were both high-ranking officials with close ties to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

Al-Qahtani is one of the highest-profile figures implicated in the killing. Believed to have been Prince Mohammed's right-hand man.

The 40-year-old was removed as a royal court adviser following Khashoggi's assassination. Prior to that, he served as a media adviser to Prince Mohammed.

Al-Qahtani is believed to have supervised a 15-man hit squad that flew from the Saudi capital, Riyadh, to Istanbul to carry out Khashoggi's murder, although he did not travel to Turkey.

Nor did Asiri, who served as spokesperson for the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen before being appointed as an adviser to Prince Mohammed, who then promoted him to his intelligence position in 2017.


Asiri is believed to be one of the planners of Khashoggi's murder [Amr Nabil/AP Photo]
Asiri frequently was the subject of condemnation from rights groups over apparent disregard for civilian casualties in the war in Yemen.

Al Jazeera's Mohamed Vall, reporting from Istanbul, said it is possible that more arrests will be ordered.

"The Turkish prosecution believes that these men are only a part of the planning and we understand that the list is not conclusive.

"We understand also that there was a previous request from the Turks to Saudi Arabia to extradite the 18 men they mentioned were involved in the crime but none of that has happened.

"No response came from Saudi Arabia and now there is this specific mention of these two men at the top, but it's not a conclusive list and they said these men are among the planners, not all the planners," he said.

US pressure needed

Wednesday's announcement came hours after CIA director Gina Haspel briefed US senators on new evidence in the Khashoggi case.

Republican Senator Lindsey Graham said he felt there was "zero chance" the crown prince wasn't involved in Khashoggi's death.

While several countries have taken steps to put pressure on the kingdom, including in some cases suspending weapons exports, it is felt that Saudi Arabia is unlikely to comply with Turkish demands without encouragement from the US.

"We know that Mohammed bin Salman takes his cues from President Trump and that Trump so far has not commented on the statements that have been issued during the night from Congress members.

"I think the Saudis on their own will not comply with any Turkish demands unless there is enough pressure put on them from the American side," Valls said.

Also on Wednesday, United Nations human rights chief Michelle Bachelet said that an international investigation was needed to determine who was responsible for Khashoggi's murder.

"I do believe it is really needed in terms of ensuring what really happened and who are the [people] responsible for that awful killing," she said at a news conference in Geneva.

Speaking in Brussels on Wednesday, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu urged Saudi Arabia to be transparent, saying Ankara would not hesitate to launch an international probe if its investigation becomes deadlocked.

Khashoggi's murder prompted international outcry and forced many countries to reassess their ties with the kingdom.

After weeks of repeated denials that it had any involvement with his disappearance, Riyadh eventually acknowledged that Saudi officials had planned and executed the killing.

The whereabouts of his remains are still unknown.
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2018/12/ ... 21329.html


Lindsey Graham turns on Pompeo over Khashoggi murder
Republican Senators Lindsey Graham and Bob Corker have accused the Saudi crown prince of being "complicit" in the murder of Jamal Khashoggi.
Speaking after a briefing by the CIA director, Mr Graham said the Trump administration was being "willfully blind" to evidence of Mohammed bin Salman's role.

https://www.bbc.com/news/av/world-us-ca ... ggi-murder


Prosecutor files arrest warrants for crown prince's former aides in Khashoggi killing

Istanbul's chief prosecutor filed warrants for the arrest of two former aides to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman Wednesday in the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, according to Reuters.

Saudi court adviser Saud al-Qahtani and General Ahmed al-Asiri were both removed from their positions in the aftermath of Khashoggi's death at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in early October.

Turkish officials have maintained that the crown prince was directly responsible for the killing, while Saudi Arabia has said he had no prior knowledge

“The prosecution’s move to issue arrest warrants for Asiri and Qahtani reflects the view that the Saudi authorities won’t take formal action against those individuals,” a Turkish official said, according to Reuters.

“The international community seems to doubt Saudi Arabia’s commitment to prosecute this heinous crime," the official added. "By extraditing all suspects to Turkey, where Jamal Khashoggi was killed and dismembered, the Saudi authorities could address those concerns.”

The Trump administration placed sanctions on 17 Saudi officials in response to the dissident journalist's death. Al-Qahtani was on that list, while al-Asiri was not.

The CIA reportedly concluded with high confidence that the crown prince ordered the killing, but the administration has denied a "smoking gun" connecting the two.

Many lawmakers have been unpersuaded by this argument, however.

After a CIA briefing Tuesday, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) “there’s not a smoking gun, there’s a smoking saw,” alluding to reports that Khashoggi was dismembered.
https://thehill.com/policy/internationa ... -top-saudi
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Re: Khashoggi Disappearance

Postby seemslikeadream » Fri Dec 07, 2018 10:09 am

Three weeks before Jamal Khashoggi was murdered, the Trump Organization’s business partner in Indonesia inked an agreement with a firm in which the Saudi government owns a large stake for an Indonesian development that will include Trump-branded elements

Trump Organization Business Partner Signed a Deal with Saudi-backed Fund Weeks Before Journalist Disappeared

By Walker Davis
October 19, 2018
Three weeks before journalist Jamal Khashoggi disappeared after entering the Saudi general consul in Istanbul, the Trump Organization’s business partner in Indonesia inked an agreement with a construction firm in which the Saudi government owns a large stake. The agreement advances plans for the two firms to work together on an Indonesian development that will include Trump-branded elements.

Unlike other presidents, President Trump did not divest himself of his business holdings before entering the White House, nor has he since. As a result, he stands to benefit personally from the Indonesia project, whose construction now appears to rely on a formal agreement with a firm of which the Saudi Arabian government owns more than a third.

An official with the Saudi-tied firm also said they expect to be involved in the development of a different Trump-branded project in the future.

The agreement is the most recent example of conflicts of interest President Trump has with Saudi Arabia through the Trump Organization. Many have questioned whether there is a connection between these conflicts and the president’s reluctance to hold Saudi Arabia accountable for Khashoggi’s disappearance.

On September 10, the construction firm, POSCO E&C, and the Trump Organization’s Indonesian business partner, MNC Group, signed a memorandum of agreement (MOA) for first-phase development of MNC Land’s Lido City project, valued at $120 million. The document follows through on a memorandum of understanding (MOU) signed by a member of the MNC Group, MNC Land, in November of last year. According to a foreign press report, the new document “make[s] official the terms of the final agreement among the project owner, the contractor and the creditors’ group,” whereas the MOU represented an “intention to cooperate.”

MNC Lido City will be a large development with some elements that are Trump-branded and others that are not. The Trump Organization previously defended a Chinese government-owned firm’s work on the development by saying it wasn’t involved in the Trump-branded aspects of the project. It appears that may not be true in this case.

While reports of the agreement do not mention the Trump Organization by name, POSCO E&C will reportedly build an 18-hole golf course and six-star hotel for the project, and among the parts of the developments that will bear the Trump name are an 18-hole golf course and a six-star hotel. Additionally, the report of the signed agreement references an MOU signed in November of last year, which is when the MOU for the Trump project was signed.

Saudi Arabia purchased a 38% stake in POSCO E&C through its Public Investment Fund in 2015. The South Korean government also owns a percentage of the company. And though the Trump Organization isn’t developing the project itself, it has licensed the Trump name, and the company will manage parts of the development, resulting in personal income for the president, who has not separated himself from his eponymous company since entering the White House.

President Trump has disclosed more than $1.4 million of income related to the Lido development on his financial disclosure reports.

The Saudi-backed firm expects to receive additional contracts for Trump-branded property in the future. “In addition to the new town development project in LIDO, we expect to receive orders for the Bali Trump Resort Project,” a POSCO E&C official said.
https://www.citizensforethics.org/trump ... sappeared/
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Re: Khashoggi Disappearance

Postby seemslikeadream » Sun Dec 09, 2018 7:18 pm

Oliver Darcy

Verified account

A transcript of an audio recording that captured Khashoggi's last moments has been disclosed to CNN by a source. "I can't breathe," are Khashoggi's last words. The transcript notes the sounds of Khashoggi's body being dismembered by a saw. https://www.cnn.com/2018/12/09/middleea ... index.html

Image


Worth noting @nytimes reported this wkd that Kushner & MBS have been having private informal convos since start of the Trump admin, and that those convos continued after Khashoggi's death. In fact, per NYT, Kushner advised MBS on how to weather the storm.

Image

https://twitter.com/oliverdarcy/status/ ... 0981929986
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Re: Khashoggi Disappearance

Postby seemslikeadream » Mon Dec 10, 2018 10:30 am

Is Kushner Covering for Bin Salman Murder Charge so Israel can Usurp Palestinian West Bank?

Juan Cole 12/10/2018

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The New York Times (h/t Mother Jones) has reported from one Saudi source and several sources in US intelligence that Jared Kushner has been corresponding over Whatsapp with Saudi crown prince and world-renowned axe murderer, Mohammed Bin Salman. Kushner, the Times reporting concludes has “offered the crown prince advice about how to weather the storm, urging him to resolve his conflicts around the region and avoid further embarrassments.”

Weather the storm? Murdering a prominent Washington Post columnist in a Saudi consulate is not a storm. It is a crime, and whoever ordered it should be tried and if found guilty sent to prison for a few decades. (There isn’t any doubt that Mohammed Bin Salman ordered the hit, though it is fair to say he hasn’t been convicted by a court of law).

CNN’s Nic Robertson has been informed of the contents of a transcript of the Turkish intelligence recording of the murder of dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi. He was clearly kidnapped and then strangled. His last words were, “I can’t breathe. I can’t breathe.” The transcript shows that the leader of the assassination team made several phone calls, which Turkish intelligence says went to the Saudi royal court. It also recorded the sounds of a bone saw after the murder.

CNN: “Jamal Khashoggi’s last words”

Jared Kushner doesn’t care.

Kushner famously made a relationship with Bin Salman when he was still third in line to the throne, in spring of 2017, and may have tried to pull strings for his friend so as to slip him into the position of crown prince in summer of 2017. Kushner has stood with Bin Salman through a whole series of crimes, including extorting $100 bn from some 200 fellow princes and his Yemen war that has resulted in starving 85,000 Yemeni children to death. And now the advice to “weather the storm” of being caught red-handed murdering Khashoggi.


Journalism focuses on personalities and often depicts Kushner as a lonely young man eager to have a Saudi BFF. But Israeli journalist Michael Bachner at The Times of Israel has proposed a structural explanation for the link: Bin Salman is using his willingness to throw the Palestinians under the bus as a way of bonding with Kushner and getting the latter’s support in the Trump White House. (Trump has his own reasons for supporting Bin Salman, mainly petroleum and purchases from the US arms industry.)

The Trump team has a vision of a ‘deal of the century’ for the Palestinians and Israelis, which appears to simply be a rubber stamp on the Likud Party’s Colonization Project aimed at the Palestinian West Bank, and which is gradually illegally usurping the latter. The Palestinians are weak and relatively poor and helpless, and it is most often the case in history that such people are dealt with horrifically and with impunity.

Since Trump put Kushner in charge of Palestine policy, the administration has 1) moved the US embassy to the disputed city of Jerusalem, 2) cut off funding for the UN Relief and Works Agency that provides aid to millions of Palestinian refugees kicked out of their homes by the Israelis, 3) cut off $5 bn in funding for West Bank development to the US Agency for International Development, and 4) permitted a tripling of Israeli squatter housing units on Palestinian land. This full court press to crush the Palestinians and leave them with nothing at all is intended to force their acquiescence in permanent Israeli Apartheid rule over them and gradual expropriation of what is left of their land.

Bin Salman told a group of Jewish Americans in New York that he doesn’t care about the Palestinians. There is in fact no good evidence that he cares about anyone at all aside from himself and a couple of cronies. Bin Salman wants to do a deal with Israel whereby it is recognized by the Gulf Cooperation Council states, just as it was recognized by Egypt and Jordan. But as with Egypt, which negotiated a separate peace with Israel and the US that left the Palestinians in the lurch, Bin Salman is perfectly willing to trade his own security as crown prince for the 5 million or so Occupied and stateless Palestinians. Hence Kushner’s unwavering support for the crown prince, said to be the most vocal and steadfast in the White House.

Kushner is a big backer of Israeli Apartheid and the Israeli squatter settlements, and for people with his commitments, Muhammed Bin Salman is a godsend. His relationship to Bin Salman is now a threat to US national security.
https://www.juancole.com/2018/12/kushne ... um=twitter
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Re: Khashoggi Disappearance

Postby seemslikeadream » Sun Dec 16, 2018 11:21 am


Trump Working on Extraditing Gulen, Turkish Foreign Minister Says

'In Argentina, Trump told Erdogan they were working on extraditing Gulen and other people,' said Turkey's foreign minister

Haaretz13:16

Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (L) posing with US President Donald Trump during the G20 summit in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on December 1, 2018. AFP
U.S. President Donald Trump told his Turkish counterpart Tayyip Erdogan that Washington was working on extraditing a U.S.-based Muslim cleric accused of orchestrating a failed Turkish coup in 2016, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Sunday.

"In Argentina, Trump told Erdogan they were working on extraditing Gulen and other people," Cavusoglu said at conference in Doha, referring to the G20 summit in Argentina from Nov. 30 to Dec. 1.


Whether or not the U.S. can legally extradite Gulen is an open question as the U.S. has long refuted Turkish evidence implicating the cleric in the 2016 coup. NPR's Justice Department correspondent tweeted in response to Cavusoglu's claim, "If this is true, will the State Dept and the Justice Dept follow his lead? Argument from US govt has been for years there is no credible evidence Gulen broke the law...."

Turkey has long sought the extradition of Gulen, who has lived in self-imposed U.S. exile for nearly two decades. A former ally of Erdogan, he is blamed by Turkish authorities for the failed coup when rogue soldiers commandeered tanks and helicopters, attacked parliament and shot unarmed civilians.

Gulen denies any involvement in the failed putsch. Trump said last month he was not considering extraditing the preacher as part of efforts to ease Turkish pressure on Saudi Arabia over the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi in Istanbul.

Erdogan said last week Turkey would start new initiatives abroad to target the financing of Gulen supporters.

"I have recently seen a credible probe by the FBI on how the Gulen organisation avoids taxes," Cavusoglu told a conference in Doha.
https://www.haaretz.com/amp/middle-east ... ssion=true



seemslikeadream » Fri Nov 16, 2018 8:18 am wrote:this is the guy General Yellowkerk Flynn was planning to kidnap

trump is trying to expel an enemy of Erdogan’s from the US in the hopes that it will ease Turkish pressure on the Saudis for the Khashoggi murder......if trump expels him, he will likely be murdered. Mike Flynn was offered $15M to kidnap same guy.

INDICTED Turkish Minister Former General Manager...GIULIANNI

As reported earlier this month, Zarrab's release was allegedly one of the requests floated to former national security advisor Michael Flynn in a December 2016 meeting with Turkish representatives. Mueller is reportedly investigating their $15 million offer to Flynn in exchange for freeing Zarrab and kidnapping exiled Turkish cleric Fethullah Gulen.
viewtopic.php?f=8&t=40682&p=657765&hilit=Fethullah+Gulen#p657765


SITUATION: Trump wants to expel someone who is seeking reforms in their home country BACK to that home country knowing he will be put to death, in order to ease pressure off of another nation that just executed/dismembered someone who also sought reforms in their home country



NEW: Exclusive: Trump admin. officials asked federal law enforcement agencies to examine legal ways of removing exiled Turkish cleric Fethullah Gulen from US in attempt to persuade Turkish Pres. Erdogan to ease pressure on Saudi gov't, four sources say.


To ease Turkish pressure on Saudis over killing, White House weighs expelling Erdogan foe

Nov. 15, 2018 / 10:44 AM CST
Image: U.S. based cleric Fethullah Gulen at his home in Saylorsburg, Pennsylvania
By Carol E. Lee, Julia Ainsley and Courtney Kube

WASHINGTON — The White House is looking for ways to remove an enemy of Turkish President Recep Erdogan from the U.S. in order to placate Turkey over the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, according to two senior U.S. officials and two other people briefed on the requests.

Trump administration officials last month asked federal law enforcement agencies to examine legal ways of removing exiled Turkish cleric Fethullah Gulen in an attempt to persuade Erdogan to ease pressure on the Saudi government, the four sources said.

The effort includes directives to the Justice Department and FBI that officials reopen Turkey's case for his extradition, as well as a request to the Homeland Security Department for information about his legal status, the four people said.

They said the White House specifically wanted details about Gulen's residency status in the U.S. Gulen has a Green Card, according to two people familiar with the matter. He has been living in Pennsylvania since the late 1990s.

Career officials at the agencies pushed back on the White House requests, the U.S. officials and people briefed on the requests said.

"At first there were eye rolls, but once they realized it was a serious request, the career guys were furious," said a senior U.S. official involved in the process.


A spokesperson for the National Security Council initially declined to comment on this story but after it published, said in a statement: "The NSC has not been involved in nor aware of any discussions relating the extradition of Fethullah Gulen to the death of Jamal Khashoggi."

The State Department, Justice Department and the Department of Homeland Security did not respond to requests for comment.

A lawyer representing Gulen declined to comment. The FBI also declined to comment.

A Turkish official said the government does not link its concerns about the Khashoggi murder with Gulen's extradition case.

"We definitely see no connection between the two," the official said. "We want to see action on the end of the United States in terms of the extradition of Gulen. And we're going to continue our investigation on behalf of the Khashoggi case."

The secret effort to resolve one of the leading tensions in U.S.-Turkey relations — Gulen's residency in the U.S. — provides a window into how President Donald Trump is trying to navigate hostility between two key allies after Saudi officials murdered Khashoggi on Oct. 2 at the kingdom's consulate in Istanbul.

It suggests the White House could be looking for ways to contain Erdogan's ire over the murder while preserving Trump's close alliance with Saudi Arabia's controversial de facto leader, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.


The kingdom, after initially denying any role in Khashoggi's disappearance, reversed course and admitted that Saudi officials were responsible for the killing. On Thursday, Saudi Arabia's top prosecutor recommended the death penalty for five out of the 11 suspects charged with killing Khashoggi. A total of 21 suspects have been arrested in connection with the case, according to Saud al-Mojeb.

Erdogan, meanwhile, has kept the pressure up by leaking pieces of evidence and repeatedly speaking out to accuse Prince Mohammed of orchestrating the murder of Khashoggi, a Washington Post columnist and outspoken critic of the Saudi leadership.

Saudi Arabia is critical to Trump's Middle East policy. The White House's relationship with Prince Mohammed is key to Trump's goals of countering Iran and helping to reach an Israeli-Palestinian peace agreement. Turkey is a NATO ally in possession of evidence about Khashoggi's murder that positions Erdogan to stoke international outrage over Riyadh's culpability in and cover-up of Khashoggi's murder.

Erdogan has for years demanded the U.S. send Gulen back to Turkey. The Turkish leader accuses the elderly cleric of being a terrorist who was behind a failed coup against Erdogan's government in 2016. After the coup attempt, Ankara made a formal request to the U.S. for Gulen's extradition.

One option that Turkish and Trump administration officials recently discussed is forcing Gulen to relocate to South Africa rather than sending him directly to Turkey if extradition is not possible, said the U.S. officials and people briefed on the discussions. But the U.S. does not have any legal justification to send Gulen to South Africa, they said, so that wouldn't be a viable option unless he went willingly.

Trump and Erdogan also recently discussed another option to relieve tensions — the release of Turkish banker Mehmet Hakan Atilla, who was sentenced in May to 32 months in prison by a U.S. federal judge for his role in a scheme to evade U.S. sanctions against Iran, two people familiar with the discussion said. Erdogan has criticized the case against Atilla as a political attack aimed at undermining his government.

The U.S. and Turkey have been engaged in negotiations over a series of sensitive diplomatic issues over the past few months, including a deal for last month’s release of an American pastor, Andrew Brunson, who was imprisoned in Turkey and an agreement for joint U.S. and Turkish military patrols in Manbij, Syria.

The Golden Generation Worship and Retreat Center in rural Saylorsburg, Pennsylvania on July 9, 2013. The private compound is where Fethullah Gulen, an influential Islamist cleric, has lived for more than a decade.Reuters file
Gulen, who has lived in self-imposed exile in the U.S. for almost two decades, denies any involvement in the failed coup in Turkey in 2016. A one-time ally of Erdogan, he's become an influential cleric with a wide network of followers known as "Gulenistas." His movement includes a host of nonprofit organizations, businesses and schools, in the U.S., as well as South Africa.

After Khashoggi's murder, Erdogan appeared to see an opportunity to ratchet up pressure on the Trump administration over Gulen, the U.S. officials and people familiar with the matter said.

Turkish officials made clear to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo during his Oct. 17 meeting with Erdogan in Ankara that they wanted the Trump administration to turn over Gulen, the U.S. officials and people familiar with the matter said.

"That was their number one ask," said a person briefed on the meeting.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo shaking hands with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan during their meeting in Ankara, Turkey on Oct. 17, 2018.Turkish presidential office / EPA file
Pompeo asked if Erdogan had new evidence of Gulen's involvement in the failed coup, prompting the Turkish leader to try to make the case that Gulen has terrorist ties, a senior U.S. official briefed on the meeting said.

In remarks to reporters traveling with him, Pompeo acknowledged having discussed Gulen with the Turks. "We did talk about Fethullah Gulen and we talked about the set of issues surrounding that organization as well," Pompeo said. "It's something that the Turks remind us of often, and we're mindful of places that we can work with them to make sure that we all have a shared set of facts as well. But it's mostly not a State Department issue; it's mostly a Justice Department issue."

The Turkish official wouldn't discuss details of Erdogan's conversation with Pompeo but said, "The Gulen issue is a part of any diplomatic conversation that we're having with our American counterparts."

Pompeo, who also met with Saudi leaders in Riyadh on that same trip, briefed Trump on his discussions after returning to Washington.

The Trump administration later sent word to Erdogan that officials would re-examine the Gulen issue, the U.S. officials and people familiar with the matter said.

Justice Department officials responded to the White House's request saying the review of Turkey's case against Gulen two years ago showed no basis for his extradition and that no new evidence to justify it has emerged, the U.S. officials and others familiar with the requests said.

Trump administration officials then asked for other options to legally remove him, the U.S. officials and others said.

They said the White House specifically wanted details about the terms under which Gulen resides in the U.S. Officials from the law enforcement agencies informed the White House there is no evidence that Gulen has broken any U.S. laws, the U.S. officials and others familiar with the requests said.

The requests on Gulen in mid-October mark at least the second time the Trump administration has re-examined Turkey's extradition request since taking office. In the weeks after Trump's inauguration, the White House asked the Justice Department to review Gulen's case, NBC has reported.

Some officials have described the first request as a routine part of a new administration reviewing its relationship with a key ally. The request, however, took place under Trump's former national security adviser, Michael Flynn, whose ties to Turkey came under scrutiny in special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into Russian election meddling. Flynn, who resigned in February 2017, entered into a plea agreement with Mueller last December and has been cooperating with the investigation.

Turkey provided boxes of materials to the U.S. in 2016 that Erdogan says shows Gulen was behind the failed coup. But officials at the Justice Department and FBI didn't find evidence that met the standard for extradition, which requires U.S. prosecutors to determine that someone committed crimes abroad that would also be illegal in the U.S.

Relations between U.S. and Turkey have been strained under Trump.

Khashoggi's disappearance after entering Saudi Arabia's consulate in Istanbul introduced new friction. Turkey publicly accused Saudi Arabia of flying in an assassination team to murder Khashoggi. The two countries have long been rivals.

Amid Saudi denials over Khashoggi's disappearance, Turkey ramped up international pressure on Riyadh by leaking its possession of evidence, including recordings from inside the consulate that Turkey officials say show the Saudi government murdered Khashoggi.

After nearly a month, Saudi Arabia admitted its government officials carried out a premeditated murder of Khashoggi. The government, though, has insisted Prince Mohammed knew nothing of it in advance. Some officials from the U.S. and other countries have said they believe otherwise.

Erdogan said this past weekend that he's given Turkey's audio recording of Khashoggi's murder inside the consulate to U.S., U.K., Saudi, French and German government officials. His comments were a public reminder of the evidence Erdogan could expose at a time of his choosing, if he wanted to put pressure on the U.S. or Saudi Arabia. .

John Bolton, Trump's national security adviser, said Tuesday that U.S. officials who listened to Turkey's recording assessed it does not implicate Prince Mohammed.

Saudi Arabia has yet to disclose the location of Khashoggi's remains, and Turkey continues to put public pressure on Riyadh.

Trump has expressed reluctance to respond too strongly given Saudi Arabia's economic and strategic value to the U.S. At a news conference last week, Trump said he is working with Turkey, Congress and Saudi Arabia to determine next steps and will have a "much stronger opinion" on Khashoggi's killing over the next week.

Following the Saudi prosecutor's announcement Thursday, the Treasury Department announced sanctions against 17 people for their suspected role in Khashoggi's murder.

The group includes Consul General Mohammed Alotaibi, who was in charge of the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, as well as senior Saudi officials and members of the suspected assassination team who arrived in Istanbul in the hours before Khashoggi disappeared.

The 17 were sanctioned under the Magnitsky Act, which bars foreign officials from entering the U.S. and freezes any assets they have in American banks.

Carol E. Lee is a national political reporter for NBC News.

Julia Ainsley is a national security reporter for NBC News.

Courtney Kube

Courtney Kube is a national security and military reporter for NBC News, covering the Pentagon, U.S. military operations all over the world, and intelligence and national security issues.

Josh Lederman and Abigail Williams contributed.
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/nation ... d_nn_tw_ma
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Re: Khashoggi Disappearance

Postby seemslikeadream » Thu Dec 27, 2018 8:53 am


Russia Tells U.S. Not to Interfere in Saudi Crown Prince MBS Becoming King, Despite Khashoggi Killing

By Cristina Maza On Wednesday, December 26, 2018 - 11:42

Russia’s President Vladimir Putin and Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman attend the G20 Leaders' Summit in Buenos Aires, on November 30. Russia is going to bat for Mohammad bin Salman after the young Saudi crown prince came under fire for the murder of a Saudi journalist in Turkey. Photo: Marin Ludovic/AFP/Getty Images
Russia went to bat for Mohammad bin Salman after the young Saudi crown prince came under fire for the killing of a Saudi journalist in Turkey.

Russia’s deputy foreign minister and Middle East envoy, Mikhail Bogdanov, warned on Tuesday that the U.S. should not try to influence the line of succession in Saudi Arabia, and he signaled that Moscow believes the 33-year-old prince should succeed his father as king.

“The king made a decision and I can’t even imagine on what grounds someone in America will interfere in such an issue and think about who should rule Saudi Arabia, now or in the future. This is a Saudi matter,” Bogdanov told reporters.

Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi walked into the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul, Turkey, on October 2 and was never seen again. At first, the Saudi leadership denied that it was involved in the disappearance. But Turkey’s government later provided evidence to the U.S. and other foreign governments demonstrating that Khashoggi, a critic of the Saudi regime and a U.S. resident, had been brutally killing at the consulate.

Saudi Arabia continued to change its official story about the killing but ultimately pinned the blame on rogue members of the security forces. Members of the U.S. Congress, however, after they were briefed by the CIA on the events surrounding Khashoggi’s death, have pinned the blame squarely on the crown prince.

Senator Bob Corker, the Republican chairman of the Senate’s Committee on Foreign Relations, had publicly criticized the crown prince and said that he should be held responsible.

"If he was before a jury, the crown prince, he would be convicted, in my opinion, in 30 minutes. I've never seen such compelling evidence in an intelligence briefing, never. So you cannot have a crown prince who's 33 years old feeling that he's able to get away with murdering a journalist inside a consulate. You cannot let that stand,” Corker told reporters on December 14.

In the U.S., only President Donald Trump has continued to emphasize the need for maintaining the relationship with the Saudi crown prince despite Khashoggi’s killing. Trump has also publicly cast doubt on the prince’s responsibility for the death. Democratic Senator Robert Menendez of New Jersey last month said that the crown prince and Putin can do whatever they want because they "own the president of the United States."

Russia, meanwhile, is one of the only countries to accept the official Saudi version of events surrounding Khashoggi’s death. On Monday, Turkey announced that it planned to bring its own investigation into the killing to the United Nations.

Since being named crown prince in June 2017, Mohammed bin Salman has continued to amass power, revealing himself as a brutal and calculating leader willing to weed out any opposition to his rule.
https://www.newsweek.com/russia-us-dona ... 1522?amp=1
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Re: Khashoggi Disappearance

Postby seemslikeadream » Sun Dec 30, 2018 4:37 pm

Khashoggi murder: Book reveals 'new details' about killing

Written by Turkish journalists, the book purports to shed light on events that lead to Khashoggi's murder and aftermath.

an hour ago
Turkish police searching a villa in northwestern Turkey over killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi [File: Anadolu Agency]

Almost three months after the killing of Saudi writer Jamal Khashoggi in his country's consulate in Istanbul, a new book reveals further details about the murder, the Turkish newspaper Daily Sabah reported.

Titled "Diplomatic Atrocity: The Dark Secrets of the Khashoggi Murder", the book, written by two Daily Sabah journalists, purports to shed light on the events that lead to the writer's murder and what transpired in the aftermath.

Khashoggi entered the Saudi consulate on October 2 to obtain documents certifying he divorced his ex-wife so he could remarry. He was killed and dismembered inside the consulate, in what Turkey called a "premeditated murder" orchestrated by the Saudi government.

Saudi officials have countered that claim, insisting Khashoggi was killed in a "rogue operation", after initially claiming he had left the building before vanishing. Turkey said the killing was ordered at the highest level of Saudi leadership, implying Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman was behind the murder. The kingdom has maintained the prince, also known as MBS, had no knowledge of the killing.

Among the reported revelations in the book is the discovery of a new recording containing information about the moments before the murder and the moments that followed, supporting Turkey's accusation that the crime was premeditated and carried out in cold blood.

The book also discloses new names of two people who participated in the 15-man so-called Saudi hit squad that killed Khashoggi and dismembered his body.

Saeed Mu'ayyad al-Qarni and Muflis Shaya al-Musleh had posed as security guards at the consulate but are in fact agents of Saudi intelligence who carry diplomatic passports, the book states.

A third person, Ahmed Abdullah al-Muzaini, was identified in the book as the head of the Istanbul unit of the Saudi intelligence service.

Al-Qarni and al-Musleh did not participate in the act of murder, the book said, but were part of the team that arrived a day earlier and carried out explorations in different parts of Istanbul for the purpose of getting rid of the body.

'Living in a villa'

Turkish officials have repeatedly suggested the murder trial be held in Turkey, but Saudi authorities have denied Turkey's requests, saying the suspects will be tried in the kingdom.

Although Saudi Arabia reported that all members of the hit squad were arrested after they returned to the country, the book cites an unnamed source as saying that Salah al-Tubaigy, the forensic doctor accused dismembering Khashoggi's body, is not detained at all.

I've never worked on a warm body so far but I can easily handle him [Khashoggi].
Reported recording of Salah al-Tubaigy, forensic doctor

Instead, the book says, Saudi authorities asked him to disappear from the limelight, and Tubaigy is now living in a villa in Jeddah with his family.

The book also says that the head of the hit squad, Maher Abdulaziz Mutreb, told Khashoggi when he entered the consulate that he would not be harmed if he cooperated with them.

He asked Khashoggi to send a message to his son Salah's phone in Riyadh, informing him that he was safe in Istanbul and not to worry if he could not be contacted for a while. Khashoggi refused to do so, and in the recording, cited in the book, can be heard saying: "Will you kill me? Will you suffocate me?"

'Never worked on a warm body'

According to the book, Khashoggi maintained his composure when he realised that he would not get out of the consulate alive, after he heard Mutreb ordering five members of the hit squad to attack the writer by suffocating him with a nylon bag. The recordings indicate that Khashoggi's last sentence was: "Do not cover my mouth. I have asthma, you will suffocate me."

Khashoggi resisted his killers for five minutes, according to the book.

Afterwards, Khashoggi's body was cut up by Tubaigy using a forensic saw. The book purports that the members of the hit squad, who remained present at the scene, were disturbed and nauseated by the dismemberment.

Tubaigy, however, is heard saying in a recording from before the murder "I've never worked on a warm body so far but I can easily handle him [Khashoggi]", according to the book.

"Normally, when I'm cutting cadavers, I would put my headphones on and listen to music. I'd also drink my coffee at the same time," Tubaigy continued.

The book also states that there is no evidence of how the Saudis got rid of Khashoggi's body, including allegations that the body was disposed of by dissolving it in acid.

Furthermore, the book dispels a widely reported claim that after the murder, Mutreb called a superior and told him to "tell your boss ... the deed is done", with reports suggesting the "boss" was MBS.
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2018/12/ ... 33470.html
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Re: Khashoggi Disappearance

Postby seemslikeadream » Mon Dec 31, 2018 5:00 pm

Turkish TV shows purported transfer of Khashoggi remains

ISTANBUL (Reuters) - A Turkish pro-government television channel has broadcast video showing men carrying suitcases purportedly containing the remains of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi into the residence of his country’s consul general in Istanbul.

The footage broadcast by A Haber shows men carrying what it says were a total of five cases through the main entrance of the residence, a short distance from the consulate where Khashoggi, a leading critic of Saudi policies, was killed in early October.

A Turkish official said the media report, also carried by the pro-government Sabah newspaper on its website, appeared to be accurate, without giving further details.

There was no immediate reply from Saudi authorities to a Reuters request for comment on the footage.

Khashoggi was a royal insider who became a critic of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and began writing for the Washington Post after moving to the United States last year.

Saudi officials have rejected accusations that the crown prince ordered his death. The murder has sparked global outrage and damaged the international reputation of 33-year-old prince, the kingdom’s de facto leader.

Sabah said the cases had been brought to the residence in a black minibus at 3:09 pm (1209 GMT).

After offering numerous contradictory explanations regarding the fate of Khashoggi, Riyadh later said he had been killed and his body dismembered when negotiations to persuade him to return to Saudi Arabia failed.

Khashoggi’s remains have not been found and Turkey has repeatedly asked Saudi Arabia where they are. Last month, Turkish police searched a remote villa in a coastal area southeast of Istanbul as part of the investigation.

Saudi Arabia’s public prosecutor’s office said last month it is seeking the death penalty for five individuals, and that 11 of 21 suspects have been indicted and will be referred to court in Saudi Arabia.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said last week Ankara was working with other countries to take the investigation into Khashoggi’s killing to the United Nations.

Reporting by Orhan Coskun; Writing by Daren Butler; Editing by David Dolan, William Maclean
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-saud ... SKCN1OU0S3
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Re: Khashoggi Disappearance

Postby Jerky » Tue Jan 01, 2019 7:29 am

I do NOT believe that Trump would hand over Gulen to Turkey.

I think that if he makes any significant moves to even try, it will most definitely mean an abrupt end to his presidency, one way or another.

That's my 2 cents, anyway.
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Re: Khashoggi Disappearance

Postby seemslikeadream » Wed Jan 02, 2019 8:40 pm


‘Khashoggi Corpse Kept in Saudi Consul Residence’

IFP Editorial Staff
Three months after the death of Khashoggi in Istanbul, investigations by Turkish police are now focused on finding the remaining of the slain journalist’s body.

“The newly-released book in Turkey titled Diplomatic Terror: Some Black Facts on Khashoggi’s Murder is built on interviews with Turkey’s intelligence officials which have not been published yet,” a report by Fars News Agency said.

The book’s authors claim that Saudi Arabia has not yet allowed Turkey’s police to inspect the water well inside the residence of Saudi consul in Istanbul, adding, it is highly likely that either Kashoggi’s corpse is kept in the well or parts of his body are kept in separate corners of the residence.

Saudi officials have only allowed Turkish police to take samples of the water well of the residence, but they have rejected any call by Turkey to inspect the well.

According to the authors, Vienna Convention does not allow Turkey to investigate diplomatic missions in the country. “It is possible that the Saudi officials have put the dead body in the well after wrapping it in anti-water package.”

They also went on to say that the Turkish intelligence officials have provided them with a report on the audio files retrieved from Saudi consulate in Istanbul on Khashoggi’s death.

“The officials told us that the perpetrators of Khashoggi’s death were members of a group named Tiger Squad headed by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman. They committed their crimes after tracking Khashoggi and visiting a number of areas in Istanbul like Belgrade Forest and a luxurious villa in Istanbul.”

According to the audio files, the authors added, two members of the Tiger Squad held talks just one hour before the crime in the consulate. Based on the files, the two members exchanged views on how to convince Khashoggi to return to Saudi Arabia or kill him. “If he declines to cooperate with us, we will kill him and get rid of his corpse,” one of them told the other.

The authors say the files convinced Director of the Central Intelligence Agency of the US Gina Haspel that Khahoggi was murdered by Saudis in their Istanbul consulate. “She listened to the files during a visit to Ankara in a meeting dominated by a deadly silence. In another meeting, when UK intelligent officials arrived in Istanbul to probe the case, their translator could not hold back his tears while translating the files.”

According to the writers, the files included various voices. Somewhere in the files, Khashoggi shouts he will not return to Riyadh while the sounds of some cold weapons like knife and circular saw is heard.

“When five members of the Tiger Squad attacked Khashoggi to keep him quiet, he desperately shouts: Don’t keep my mouth shut. I’ve asthma. You are choking me,” the authors said.

The Turkish security officials also told the authors that the squad members removed Khashoggi’s blood with a special sucker machine and then dismembered his body with a circular saw.

Four members of the squad played a key role in the crime and the squad members did not notice they were tracked by Turkish security forces on their visit to Belgrade Forest in Istanbul.

The book also rejects Saudi Arabia’s claim that the perpetrators of the crime have been arrested.

Meanwhile, the Turkish media have recently released a new footage in which the squad members are seen entering Saudi consul residence with big plastic bags in their hands. This has contributed to speculations that Khashoggi’s corpse is being held in the residence.

Khashoggi was brutally killed in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on October 2 in a premeditated operation. Saudi officials first denied the crime was carried out inside the consulate, but later facing growing evidence, they acknowledged he was murdered inside the consulate saying the crime was carried out by some rogue elements.
https://ifpnews.com/exclusive/khashoggi ... ssion=true
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Re: Khashoggi Disappearance

Postby seemslikeadream » Thu Feb 07, 2019 11:00 pm


Jamal Khashoggi

Saudi crown prince wanted to go after Jamal Khashoggi 'with a bullet' – report
US media report quotes intelligence sources who intercepted a conversation between Mohammed bin Salman and an aide in 2017
Julian Borger in Washington
Thu 7 Feb 2019 20.34 EST First published on Thu 7 Feb 2019 13.16 EST

A demonstrator holds picture of Jamal Khashoggi during a protest in front of Saudi Arabia’s consulate in Istanbul. Photograph: Osman Örsal/Reuters
Saudi Arabia’s crown prince told a senior aide he would go after Jamal Khashoggi “with a bullet” a year before the dissident journalist was killed inside the kingdom’s Istanbul consulate, according to a US media report.

US intelligence understood that Mohammed bin Salman, the country’s 33-year-old de facto ruler, was ready to kill the journalist, although he may not have literally meant to shoot him, according to the New York Times ($).

After initially denying any knowledge of Khashoggi’s disappearance, the kingdom has acknowledged that a team killed him inside the diplomatic mission but described it as a rogue operation that did not involve the crown prince.

The conversation was intercepted by US intelligence agencies, as part of routine efforts by the National Security Agency and other agencies to capture and store the communications of global leaders, including allied ones, the newspaper reported.


UN executions expert to visit Turkey to lead Khashoggi inquiry


It was only recently transcribed, however, because of mounting efforts by US intelligence to find conclusive proof linking the prince to the killing.

The conversation took place between the crown prince and an aide, Turki Aldakhil, in September 2017 – about 13 months before the killing, the paper said.

The prince said that if Khashoggi could not be enticed to return to Saudi Arabia, then he should be brought back by force. If neither of those methods worked, then he would go after Mr Khashoggi “with a bullet”, the paper reported.


The report came after a UN human rights expert looking into the case said the Saudi regime “seriously curtailed and undermined” the Turkish investigation into the murder of Khashoggi.

Agnes Callamard, a UN special rapporteur on extrajudicial killings, said the Saudi dissident and Washington Post columnist was the victim of a “brutal, premeditated killing planned and perpetrated by officials of the state of Saudi Arabia”.

Khashoggi was lured into the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on the promise of being given documents that would help him remarry. Inside he was suffocated and then his body was dismembered, according to a Turkish investigation.

In a preliminary report, Callamard said that she had heard “parts of the chilling and gruesome audio material obtained and retained by the Turkish intelligence agency”.

Callamard said Turkey’s efforts to carry out a proper investigation had “been seriously curtailed and undermined by Saudi Arabia”.

She said: “Woefully inadequate time and access was granted to Turkish investigators to conduct a professional and effective crime-scene examination and search required by international standards for investigation.”

Callamard, a French human rights expert, is due to deliver a final report to the UN human rights council in June. On Thursday she provided an assessment of her visit to Turkey to pursue the investigation, from 28 January and 3 February.

She said that Saudi killers had exploited diplomatic immunity to carry out the murder
“Guarantees of immunity were never intended to facilitate the commission of a crime and exonerate its authors of their criminal responsibility or to conceal a violation of the right to life,” Callamard said. “The circumstances of the killing and the response by state representatives in its aftermath may be described as ‘immunity for impunity’.”

US intelligence chiefs have told Congress that the Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, almost certainly ordered the killing or was aware of it, but Donald Trump and his secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, have insisted that the evidence is incomplete and investigations would continue.

Pompeo is due to meet the Saudi foreign minister, Adel al-Jubeir, in Washington on Thursday afternoon.

Riyadh has denied the prince was involved. The Saudi public prosecutor has charged 11 men with the murder, saying last month that he would seek the death penalty for five of them.

Callamard said she had “major concerns” about the fairness of the Saudi proceedings and had asked to visit Riyadh.

“The murder of Jamal Khashoggi and the sheer brutality of it has brought irreversible tragedy to his loved ones,” she said. “It is also raising a number of international implications which demand the urgent attention of the international community including the United Nations.”


https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/ ... ed-nations
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Re: Khashoggi Disappearance

Postby seemslikeadream » Mon Feb 18, 2019 10:24 pm


An Israeli tech firm is selling spy software to dictators, betraying the country’s ideals

By Max BootDecember 5, 2018 at 2:22 PM

MONTREAL, CANADA - OCTOBER 17: Saudi dissident Omar Abdulaziz is suing Israeli technology company NSO Group. He accuses the firm of providing the Saudi government with the surveillance software to spy on him and his friends – including Jamal Khashoggi. (Photo by François Ollivier for The Washington Post)
Israel has always prided itself on being, as the Book of Isaiah says, “a light unto the nations” — an exemplar of “righteousness” to inspire Jews and gentiles alike and bring salvation to mankind. That is why the menorah is the symbol not only of Hanukkah, which Jews are now celebrating, but also of the state of Israel. But Israel’s light is dimmed when veterans of its famed armed forces, whose mission is to defend the Jewish state’s freedom, misuse their expertise to aid oppression in other countries.

Saudi dissident Omar Abdulaziz, who lives in Canada, has filed a lawsuit against an Israeli technology company called the NSO Group accusing it of providing the Saudi government with the surveillance software to spy on him and his friends — including Jamal Khashoggi. The program, known as Pegasus, not only allows the monitoring of all communications from a phone — all texts, all emails, all phone calls — but can also hijack a mobile phone’s microphone and camera to turn it into a surveillance device.

The information gathered on Khashoggi may have motivated his murder by alerting the Saudi authorities that he was stirring up electronic dissent within the kingdom, while denouncing Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman in vituperative terms as a “pac-man” who devoured all in his path. “The hacking of my phone played a major role in what happened to Jamal, I am really sorry to say,” Abdulaziz told CNN. “The guilt is killing me.”

Firms like the NSO Group have been started by veterans of Unit 8200, Israel’s version of the National Security Agency. A 2016 report by a watchdog group called Privacy International identified 27 Israeli companies in the business of surveillance, the highest number per capita in the world. But the NSO Group has created the most controversy amid charges that its products have been misused against civil society activists around the world.

Mexican journalists and activists are already suing the NSO Group alleging that Pegasus was used to spy on them. Among those allegedly targeted were advocates of a soda tax designed to reduce Mexicans’ consumption of sugary drinks. When the NSO Group went to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to sell its technology, according to the New York Times, it demonstrated its efficacy by surreptitiously recording the phone calls of a London-based Arab newspaper editor. A UAE human rights activist later complained of having his iPhone hacked, and the UAE was also said to have targeted regional rivals such as Saudi Arabia and Qatar. The government of Panama is reported to be another NSO customer that has used the technology to monitor its critics.

When confronted with such criticisms, NSO’s strategy is to deny and deflect. It told the New York Times on Sunday that its products were “licensed for the sole use of providing governments and law enforcement agencies the ability to lawfully fight terrorism and crime.” The company boasts that its products are vetted and licensed by the Israeli government, and that “we do not tolerate misuse of our products. If there is suspicion of misuse, we investigate it and take the appropriate actions, including suspending or terminating a contract.”

It’s true that Israel must approve the sale of NSO’s products — but Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government takes an amoral approach to this vetting. It sees such sales as not only good for Israel’s economy but also for its security, because it fosters closer links with Arab states. And if a few dissidents are harassed, jailed or even killed because of this spy software, well, that’s not Israel’s concern. Israelis are deeply cynical — and, after the Iraq War and Arab Spring, understandably so — about the prospects of democracy in the Arab world. They prefer to deal with unelected leaders such as the royal families of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Jordan, and they fear that popularly elected governments would be more hostile to them because of the pervasive anti-Semitism in the Arab world.

Freed of serious regulatory pressure, Israeli spy companies are free to maximize profits any way they can. Firms like the NSO Group appear to be doing little to hold customers such as the Saudi and UAE governments to account for using their products not against terrorist groups such as the Islamic State or against foreign enemies such as Iran but against liberal dissidents. It’s a safe bet that technology companies build in “back doors” that allow them to monitor and take control of their programs if they so desire. It’s likely that the NSO Group could disable its software from afar to stop Saudi Arabia or Mexico from misusing it — but there is no evidence that it has done so.

The trump card in these arguments is always the claim — beloved of arms merchants everywhere — that “if we don’t sell these products, someone else will.” That may very well be true, since the NSO Group is in competition with firms such as Italy’s Hacking Team, which has been accused of catering to repressive regimes such as Kazakhstan, Vietnam and Sudan. But Italy has never claimed a moral mission in the world. Israel has. It’s understandable that Israel would employ brutal tactics such as targeted killings to ensure its own survival. But there is no excuse for enabling foreign oppression for profit.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/amphtml/ ... ssion=true


1. (link: https://www.univision.com/univision-new ... -documents) univision.com/univision-news…
2. (link: https://www.fastcompany.com/40469864/th ... our-phones) fastcompany.com/40469864/the-b…
3. (link: https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/ ... 30249.html) miamiherald.com/news/local/cri…
4. (link: https://www.pcmag.com/news/363835/pegas ... -in-the-us) pcmag.com/news/363835/pe…
5. (link: https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nat ... story.html) chicagotribune.com/news/nationwor…
6. (link: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/investigat ... me-n821706) nbcnews.com/news/investiga…
7. (link: https://www.fastcompany.com/3067820/tru ... ma-problem) fastcompany.com/3067820/trumps…
8. (link: https://news.bloomberglaw.com/banking-l ... -probe-2-2) news.bloomberglaw.com/banking-law/ex…
9. (link: https://citywireamericas.com/news/ex-bn ... e/a1182663) citywireamericas.com/news/ex-bny-em…
10.
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Re: Khashoggi Disappearance

Postby RocketMan » Tue Feb 19, 2019 6:32 am

MAX BOOT!!!

:rofl: :rofl:
-I don't like hoodlums.
-That's just a word, Marlowe. We have that kind of world. Two wars gave it to us and we are going to keep it.
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Re: Khashoggi Disappearance

Postby seemslikeadream » Tue Feb 19, 2019 7:53 am

What is wrong with you...if something is true who cares who wrote it ......do you have a problem with the facts? So lazy all you can post is crap instead of dealing with the facts of the article so immature but that’s how you roll isn’t it rocket child go call someone else a troll it is what you do best I thought that was hysterical

btw while you were laughing I suppose you did not have the time to read that Boot left the republican party

Laughing at facts about an assassinations .....well I find that a little strange.....I would rather deal with facts...let me know what facts in that article are incorrect after you're done laughing but you probably don't have time for that kinda stuff


You think it is funny what Israel is doing?

You think it is funny that Israel is selling spy software to dictators?

You think it is funny Khasoggi was killed?

Just what do you find that is so very funny/amusing...ASSASSINATIONS?? FACTS??



DEAL WITH FACTS INSTEAD
that’s what is expected


An Israeli tech firm is selling spy software to dictators, betraying the country’s ideals





The information gathered on Khashoggi may have motivated his murder by alerting the Saudi authorities that he was stirring up electronic dissent within the kingdom, while denouncing Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman in vituperative terms as a “pac-man” who devoured all in his path. “The hacking of my phone played a major role in what happened to Jamal, I am really sorry to say,” Abdulaziz told CNN. “The guilt is killing me.”





BLACK CUBE ISRAELI INTELLiGENCE.

viewtopic.php?f=33&t=40981


DEAL WITH FACTS WHEN YOU HAVE THE TIME


Lincoln's Bible

I wonder if Pegasus had @LindseyGrahamSC's latest cell phone number before then-candidate @realDonaldTrump read it out loud on national tv?
Maybe his former campaign manager knows?
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Maybe Mike Flynn knows??
To be fair, there were lots and lots of people spied on. Probably hard to remember them all, even US Senators??

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Maybe Panama's former President Martinelli knows?
He might have paid for it, after all.
Side note: Interesting that a former PRESIDENT of Panama was dragged into a US court in SHACKLES, and nary a news outlet reported. Wonder what happened there...?

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Speaking of that sh*tbag, Martinelli... I'd like to know a whole lot more about his Panama Global Bank, and all the money laundered through Trump property(s).
How about you?
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https://twitter.com/LincolnsBible/statu ... 1553204224
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Re: Khashoggi Disappearance

Postby seemslikeadream » Tue Feb 19, 2019 7:55 am

I guess someone here might find burning Khashoggi's body amusing coming from an Haaretz article ....who can say? If he can take time out of his laughing schedule maybe he can critique this but it appears that’s not what he is here for .........facing facts

Turkish Police Believe Khashoggi's Body Was Burned, Report Says
The consulate had two wells and a gas and wood floor furnace that could reach heat of over 1,000 degrees, destroying any DNA traces, says state-run Anadolu news agency


Feb 15, 2019 6:29 PM

Hatice Cengiz, Turkish fiancee of slain Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, attends a news conference to present a book on Khashoggi, in Istanbul, Turkey February 8, 2019.\ MURAD SEZER/ REUTERS

Trump's decision to stand by Saudi prince has Netanyahu's fingerprints on it
Report: Bin Salman told an aide that he would go after Khashoggi 'with a bullet'
Saudi Arabia's 'complete lack of transparency' on Khashoggi murder is concerning, Turkey says
Turkish police believe the remains of murdered Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi may have been burned, Turkey’s state-run news agency Anadolu said on Thursday, citing a police report.
Khashoggi, a critic of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, was killed in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul by a team of Saudi operatives on October 2, provoking international revulsion.


The consulate had two wells and a gas and wood floor furnace that could reach heat of over 1,000 degrees, destroying any DNA traces, Anadolu said on Thursday, quoting a report by the Turkish police.
After making numerous contradictory statements about Khashoggi’s fate, Riyadh said he had been killed and his body dismembered when negotiations to persuade him to return to Saudi Arabia failed.
>> Khashoggi and the myth of the 'liberal' Middle East crown princes | Analysis
Police believe information obtained in the investigation indicate that the dismembered remains of Khashoggi may have been burned, Anadolu said.
Despite Turkey’s investigation looking at the kingdom’s consulate in Istanbul, the consul’s residence and several other locations, Khashoggi’s remains have not been found.
Khashoggi’s killing has severely strained ties between Turkey and Saudi Arabia, although Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan has good ties with the Saudi monarch, King Salman.
>> On Khashoggi, U.S. journalists are falling for Turkey's conspiracist, state-run media | Opinion
Erdogan has said Khashoggi’s killing was ordered by the highest level of Saudi leadership and has repeatedly called on Saudi officials to identify a “local cooperator” involved in the killing. Riyadh has rejected accusations that the crown prince was involved.

Footage from the police report shown on Turkish televisions showed a man believed to be a Khashoggi impersonator walking alongside a man police say is the “local cooperator” in the case. The identity of the man was not immediately clear.
Turkish police also believe Hatice Cengiz, Khashoggi’s fiancée, may have been a second victim in the murder if she had entered the Saudi consulate with Khashoggi, Anadolu said.
https://www.haaretz.com/middle-east-new ... -1.6938524



southpaw

Flynn promoted a Saudi nuclear deal as national security advisor despite his direct financial ties to the project and it reportedly never died even after he was fired; seems bad https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/pol ... democrats/

[img]‏%20https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Dzx-W1TWoAE_iOs.jpg[/img]

The interim staff report from House Oversight that’s generating this coverage today. (Side note: Flynn had three speakers bureaus??) https://www.documentcloud.org/documents ... clear.html

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Tom Barrack—who was most recently in the news for minimizing the Khashoggi murder—appears to be a central figure in so many of Trump team’s shenanigans. When is he going to be called before Congress?
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https://twitter.com/nycsouthpaw/status/ ... 0804313089
Mazars and Deutsche Bank could have ended this nightmare before it started.
They could still get him out of office.
But instead, they want mass death.
Don’t forget that.
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