CIA has recording of Saudi prince demanding Khashoggi be \'silenced\'

CIA has recording of Saudi prince demanding Khashoggi be 'silenced'

Saudi Arabia has said Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman had no prior knowledge of Khashoggi's killing at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul six weeks ago

Reuters  |  Istanbul 

A Turkish newspaper reported on Thursday CIA director Gina Haspel signalled to Turkish officials last month that the agency had a recording of a call in which Saudi Arabia’s gave instructions to “silence”

Asked about the report, a Turkish official told Reuters he had no information about such a recording. has said Mohammed bin Salman had no prior knowledge of Khashoggi’s killing at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul six weeks ago.

“There is talk of another recording,” Hurriyet newspaper journalist Abdulkadir Selvi wrote in a column, saying the purported call took place between Prince Mohammed and his brother, Saudi Arabia’s ambassador to

“It is being said that CIA chief Gina Haspel indicated this during her visit to Turkey,” he wrote, adding that they had discussed Khashoggi, a critic of the kingdom’s de facto ruler.

“It is being said the gave orders to ‘silence as soon as possible’,” in a call which was monitored by the US agency, he said.

was killed at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on October 2 in an operation that Turkey’s President Tayyip Erdogan has said was ordered by the highest level of Saudi leadership.

First Published: Thu, November 22 2018. 22:34 IST