Jamal Khashoggi’s last words to fiancee were ‘It will not be long’
Jamal Khashoggi’s fiancee reveals his last words to her were ‘It will not be long’… and she thought he was chatting to staff when he did not emerge because he was so happy
- Fiancee of murdered Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi reveals last words to her
- He told Hatice Cengiz ‘it will not be long’ just before he entered Saudi consulate
- When he did not emerge after an hour she thought he must be talking to staff
- Mr Cengiz also revealed that she needs a bodyguard and is under surveillance
The fiancee of murdered journalist Jamal Khashoggi has revealed his last words to her were ‘it will not be long’ just before he went inside the Saudi consulate and never returned.
Hatice Cengiz went to the consulate with the Washington Post writer and was left waiting for him outside as he was being brutally killed by a hit squad.
She now cannot leave her home in Istanbul without a bodyguard and is under surveillance, French magazine Paris Match reports.
The 59-year-old had gone into the consulate in Istanbul on October 2 last year to collect divorce papers from his previous wife for the couple’s upcoming wedding.
Yesterday a Turkish police report suggested Ms Cengiz could also have become a second victim of the killing if the murderers knew she was waiting outside or if she had gone inside to find out why he had not returned.
Now Ms Cengiz says she is under surveillance and has to avoid crowded areas of her home city of Istanbul and has to have a bodyguard whenever she leaves the house.
Hatice Cengiz says she needs a bodyguard when she leaves her house and that she is under surveillance so avoids crowded areas
CCTV footage of Jamal Khashoggi and his fiancee, Hatice Cengiz, at an apartment building in Istanbul just hours before his death in the Saudi Arabian consulate
CCTV video showing Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi (right) entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, Turkey on October 2, where he was ‘offered a cup of tea’ before being brutally murdered and his body dismembered
The 36-year-old told the Paris Match that as her fiance’s remains have not been found she has been unable to grieve his death.
She also told the magazine the writer thought he would not be long in the Saudi consulate, but she started to worry after an hour.
Describing his last words to her, she told the magazine: ‘[He said] “wait for me there. It will not be long”.
‘An hour later, I started to worry. But I thought maybe he was talking to them, thanking them…He looked so happy.’
Mr Khashoggi did not know his life was in danger when he went to the consulate and only feared his passport might be taken by the Saudis, she added.
Ms Cengiz said: ‘He did not know for a moment [he was under threat]. What he feared, however, was that if he went to the consulate, they would be confiscated his passport or he would be sent back to his home country.
‘For a journalist, it’s precious. They could also have tried to send him back to Arabia, it was unlikely because it would have needed the agreement of the Turkish authorities.’
Mr Khashoggi first tried to use a scanned document to prove his divorce from his Saudi wife so he could marry Ms Cengiz, but was told he needed the official document and had to return to the consulate in Istanbul.
Turkish police believe Hatice Cengiz could have also been a victim of the killing if the hit squad knew she was outside
Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi was killed inside the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul in October last year when he went to pick up divorce documents so he could marry his Turkish fiancee
Describing his first visit to the consulate weeks before his death, Ms Cengiz said: ‘We found the address of the Saudi consulate and we took a taxi. There, I was not allowed to return.
‘But he was warmly welcomed by those present who knew him. They were happy to see him.
‘He came back after an hour saying that he would have to go back in a few days. He had warned that he had to go to London, but that he would return on October 2. At first, he was relieved.’
The former government adviser who went into self-imposed exile in the United States in 2017 to avoid possible arrest and has been critical of some of the policies of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Riyadh’s intervention in the war in Yemen after initially supporting the military action.
Did spies kill Jamal Khashoggi after botching attempt to…
Detained Saudi activists are being electrocuted, flogged and…
Federal government launches an investigation into the…
Jamal Khashoggi’s fiancee narrowly missed being killed…
Share this article
Since his exile he wrote columns in the Post criticising Saudi Arabia’s policies towards Qatar and Canada, as well as the crackdown on the media and activists.
He said before he left the kingdom, the Saudi government banned him from Twitter ‘when I cautioned against an overly enthusiastic embrace of then-President-elect Donald Trump’.
CCTV footage has emerged allegedly showing Jamal Khashoggi’s body parts being carried into Saudi Arabia’s consul residence in bags and suitcases on the day he was murdered
Former Saudi newspaper editor, Mr Khashoggi lived in Washington DC, for more than a year after he said the Saudi authorities had told him to stop tweeting.
US intelligence agencies believe the crown prince ordered an operation to kill Mr Khashoggi, but Riyadh has rejected accusations that the de facto ruler of the kingdom was involved.
A Turkish police report publish in the local media, said investigators believe Mr Mr Khashoggi’s dismembered body could have been carried from the consulate where he was murdered to the consul general’s residence nearby where his remains were burnt.
Turkish media agency, Anadolu, reported yesterday that the consul general’s residence had two wells and a gas and wood floor furnace that could reach heat of over 1,000 degrees, destroying any DNA traces.
After making numerous contradictory statements about Mr 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, a contributor to the Washington Post, was killed on October 2 shortly after entering the kingdom’s consulate (pictured) in what Riyadh called a ‘rogue’ operation
Citing police sources, Turkish media said the 59-year-old’s dismembered body was carried from the consulate where he was murdered in cases and bags to the consul general’s residence where his remains were burnt
Despite Turkey’s investigation looking at the kingdom’s consulate in Istanbul, the consul’s residence and several other locations, Mr Khashoggi’s remains have not been found.
Mr 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.
Erdogan has said Mr 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 Mr Khashoggi impersonator walking alongside a man police say is the ‘local cooperator’ in the case. The identity of the man was not immediately clear.
Last week a UN human rights expert said Mr Khashoggi was murdered in a ‘brutal and premeditated killing’ carried out by Saudi officials.
Turkish officials have been frustrated by what they say is a lack of cooperation by Riyadh and have called for an international inquiry.
The images feature three men carrying five suitcases and two large black bags into the home of the Saudi consul general in Istanbul, Turkey
There has been speculation that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman (centre) ordered the hit of Mr Khashoggi but Riyadh has absolved the de facto leader of any blame
Khashoggi’s killing provoked widespread revulsion and tarnished the image of Crown Prince bin Salman, previously admired in the West for pushing deep changes including tax reform, infrastructure projects and allowing women to drive.
CCTV footage emerged in December allegedly showing Jamal Khashoggi’s body parts being carried into Saudi Arabia’s consul residence in bags and suitcases on the day he was murdered.
The images feature three men carrying five suitcases and two large black bags into the home of the Saudi consul general in Istanbul, Turkey.
The residence lies a short distance from the Saudi consulate where Khashoggi was butchered in a killing that has tested Riyadh’s relations with the West.
Saudi Arabia has also repeatedly rejected Turkish demands to extradite suspects connected to the murder of the journalist, a critic of the crown prince.
The journalist had decided to leave his native Saudi Arabia for the US in September 2017, but was lured to the embassy in Istanbul on in October this year to collect papers for his upcoming marriage.
Listening devices planted inside the building by Turkish intelligence captured the ‘kill squad’ planning the murder in the days before and carrying it out.
A report by the Washington Post, to which Khashoggi was a contributing columnist, says that when he arrived at the consulate a member of the team asked ‘whether he would take tea’.
Shortly afterwards, a member of the Saudi ‘kill squad’ chillingly told the journalist he would be ‘going back to Saudi Arabia’, before injecting him with a lethal dose of sedative.
Khashoggi’s final gasps for air are audible on the tape recordings, officials told the Washington Post.
They added that there was nothing to suggest that the team had any intent to take Khashoggi alive.
Further reports quoting those who have listened to the recordings claim Khashoggi’s last words were to tell his killers ‘I can’t breathe’.
Just moments after his gasps faded, the silence on the tape gives way to the sound of an electric saw, consistent with reports that Khashoggi’s body was dismembered. His remains have never been found.
Source: Read Full Article