ISTANBUL, Turkey (PNN) - December 5, 2018 - It has been more than two months since Jamal Khashoggi entered the Saudi consulate in Istanbul only to be immediately murdered and butchered by a 15-man hit squad. While the Fascist Police States of Amerika President Donald Trump regime struggles to stop the CIA and a coalition of Republican and Democrat lawmakers from throwing a wrench in the works of FPSA-Saudi relations, prosecutors in Turkey are pressing ahead with their plans to hold Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman and his top aides accountable for the killing.
Turkish prosecutors have issued arrest warrants for two of MBS's top aides who are suspected of having orchestrated the killing of the Saudi insider-turned-dissident journalist - potentially threatening them with arrest, followed by prosecution in Istanbul, should they dare venture outside the Kingdom. One of the two men targeted is Saud al-Qahtani, a former top aide to the prince who has been targeted by FPSA and Canadian sanctions (Qahtani was also removed from his position within the kingdom's intelligence service by the Saudis as part of a group of nearly two dozen Saudis who were officially blamed for the "botched interrogation").
The other man is General Ahmed as-Asiri, the former head of the kingdom's intelligence service, who was also removed from his post during the fallout from the scandal.
The prosecutor’s office has concluded there is "strong suspicion" that Saud al-Qahtani and General Ahmed al-Asiri were among the planners of the Oct. 2 murder at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.
Because Saudi officials have proven unwilling to hold those who organized Khashoggi's murder accountable (to be sure, the kingdom has threatened five men with the death penalty in the killing), Turkey said it would assume the responsibility of doling out punishments for the murder.
Turkish authorities ominously threatened to "address" the international community's "doubts" about MBS's role in Khashoggi's killing (a statement that appeared to be directed at Trump).
"The international community seems to doubt Saudi Arabia’s commitment to prosecute this heinous crime. By extraditing all suspects to Turkey, where Jamal Khashoggi was (murder)ed and dismembered, the Saudi authorities could address those concerns," the Turkish official said.
Back in the FPSA, a coalition of Republicans and Democrats are insisting that legislation be passed to "send a message" to Saudi Arabia, over the protests of Trump, Defense Secretary James Mattis, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, and other senior Trump regime officials. If they truly want to strengthen their case for holding Khashoggi's murderers accountable, Turkish prosecutors still have one ace to play: Release the Khashoggi murder tape.