Saudi suspect in Khashoggi case killed in accident: Turkish daily

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A Turkish daily reported on Thursday that one of the suspects involved in the disappearance of Saudi Arabian journalist Jamal Khashoggi was killed in a "suspicious car accident" in Riyadh.

Mashal Saad al-Bostani, a 31-year-old lieutenant of the Saudi Royal Air Force, was among the 15 suspects who arrived and left Turkey on October 2 after going to Saudi Arabia's Istanbul consulate where Khashoggi was last seen, Hurriyet Daily News quoted the Turkish newspaper Yeni Safak as saying in the report.

The newspaper said sources did not release any details about the traffic accident in Riyadh and Bostani's role in the "murder" was not yet clear.

Hurriyet Daily News has also claimed that Saudi Arabia's Istanbul consul Mohammad al-Otaibi could be "the next execution" as Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman "would do anything to get rid of evidence".

Yeni Safak had reported on Wednesday that Al-Otaibi's voice could be heard in one of the recordings, which Turkish authorities believed to be of Khashoggi's "interrogation" at the consulate.

Al-Otaibi returned to Saudi Arabia on Tuesday before his residence in Istanbul was searched by police on Wednesday and Thursday.

Meanwhile, another Turkish daily, Sabah, on Thursday released stills from security camera footage of another suspect.

According to Sabah, 47-year-old Maher Abdulaziz M. Mutreb, an intelligence officer who previously served in Saudi Arabia's London embassy, landed in Istanbul on October 2 and went to his the consulate after.

Hours after Khashoggi's arrival and disappearance, Mutreb left the consulate and visited the consul's residence in the evening of that day after which he returned to Saudi Arabia aboard a private jet.

The New York Times had reported that Mutreb had travelled extensively with the Crown Prince, perhaps as a bodyguard.

--IANS

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