![\"Khashoggi](\"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Khashoggi-protest.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nFinally, nearly three weeks after what most of the world suspected to be a foul murder, the Saudi regime has officially admitted that Jamal Khashoggi was killed in its consulate in Istanbul, Turkey. No sooner had the Saudis issued their latest lie to cover up previous lies, US President Trump was lending White House prestige to the travesty.<\/span><\/p>\n Trump said the belated Saudi version of what happened was \u201ccredible\u201d. He also welcomed as \u201cgood first steps\u201d the Saudi arrest of 18 individuals and sacking of several top officials.<\/span><\/p>\n The Saudi \u201cexplanation\u201d of Khashoggi\u2019s death stretches credulity to snapping point. They are saying he was killed after a fist-fight broke out in the consulate. The Saudis are also claiming the de facto ruler of the kingdom, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MbS), did not know anything about the murder, its planning or aftermath. Recall that MbS asserted in an interview with Bloomberg on October 5 that Khashoggi had walked out of the consulate the same day he arrived.<\/span><\/p>\n Now the Crown Prince has been appointed by his father, ageing King Salman, to head up a committee to oversee an overhaul of the royal court\u2019s intelligence organization. The former deputy head of intelligence, Ahmed al-Assiri, is one of those senior aides who has been\u00a0sacked<\/a><\/strong><\/span>\u00a0and set to take the rap.<\/span><\/p>\n In other words, the heir to the throne, MbS, is being absolved of any responsibility in the scandal. The sacked aides and arrested men, who are believed to include the 15-member team that went to Istanbul to intercept Khashoggi, are being made the scapegoats.<\/span><\/p>\n It is customary Saudi treachery at work. There is simply no way that a 15-member team that included top bodyguards of the Crown Prince could have carried out the Khashoggi abduction and killing without the monarch\u2019s knowledge and sanction.<\/span><\/p>\n US intelligence intercepts have claimed to show that MbS was indeed involved in the planning of Khashoggi\u2019s doom. It is simply preposterous that the 15-member hit squad went \u201crogue\u201d and carried out a murder on their own initiative.<\/span><\/p>\n But President Trump and his Secretary of State Mike Pompeo appear to be coordinating with the House of Saud to project an alibi for the 33-year-old future king.<\/span><\/p>\n It was Trump who floated the idea last week of \u201crogue killers\u201d being the culprits. Pompeo then flew to Riyadh where he held chummy photo-ops with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and King Salman. The top US diplomat ludicrously commended the Saudi \u201ccommitment\u201d to a \u201ctransparent investigation\u201d into what happened in Istanbul.<\/span><\/p>\n Now that the Saudis have finally admitted the killing while denying the Crown Prince\u2019s involvement, Trump is saying that such a patent lie is \u201ccredible\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n What\u2019s more, the treachery in the House of Saud will likely involve the killing of the scapegoats to ensure they never talk about the plot against Khashoggi.<\/span><\/p>\n One of the 15-man hit squad has already been killed in a suspicious car accident in Riyadh last week. Mashal Saad al Bostani (31) was a Saudi Royal Air Force lieutenant who was identified by Turkish intelligence as being among the group that lay in wait at the consulate for Khashoggi. Turkish media have\u00a0speculated<\/a><\/strong><\/span>\u00a0that the House of Saud has begun destroying evidence and potential witnesses. Watch, in particular, the fate of the former Consul General in Istanbul, Mohammed al Otaibi.<\/span><\/p>\n The notion, according to the Saudis, that a fight broke out in the consulate leading to Khashoggi\u2019s death does not tally with reports that the 15-man team was equipped with a bone saw. Turkish intelligence sources also say they have audio tapes showing Khashoggi was immediately assaulted on entering the consulate, then tortured by having his fingers cut off, before finally being decapitated and his body dismembered.<\/span><\/p>\n If the Saudi \u201cexplanation\u201d is considered, then where is Khashoggi\u2019s remains? If his death was somehow an accident, then the Saudis should be able to present his corpse. But they won\u2019t because the far more credible account is that Khashoggi\u2019s remains would testify to torture and mutilation.<\/span><\/p>\n Let\u2019s also bear in mind the routine nature of treachery in the House of Saud, especially under the new Crown Prince. When he was made heir to the throne in 2017, the then incumbent Crown Prince Mohammed bin Nayef was unceremoniously sidelined. It was a power grab that broke Saudi succession rules. Video footage at the time showed MbS feigning an act of humility and contrition to the ousted Bin Nayef, his older cousin. MbS was seen bending down to kiss the leg of the hapless former Crown Prince, in what appeared to be a show of magnanimity.<\/span><\/p>\n