Neither Turkey nor the United States has publicly confirmed that Khashoggi is dead or said officially that Riyadh is to blame.
But a steady stream of unconfirmed leaks from officials to Turkish media have painted a detailed and horrifying picture of Khashoggi’s last minutes, allegedly at the hands of 15 Saudi agents waiting for him when he came to the consulate for paperwork.
The pro-government Yeni Safak newspaper on Wednesday claimed it had heard audio tapes in which Khashoggi’s alleged killers tortured him by cutting his fingers off before his decapitation.
ABC News, quoting a senior Turkish official, reported Thursday that during his visit to Turkey this week Pompeo heard this audio and was shown a transcript of the recording. But Pompeo denied the report.
“I’ve seen no tape. I’ve seen no –- or I’ve heard no tape. I’ve seen no transcript,” he told reporters during a trip to Latin America.
The pro-government Sabah newspaper on Thursday said Saudi security official Maher Abdulaziz Mutreb, believed to be close to the crown prince, was the leader of the operation.
“Here is the head of the execution team,” said Sabah’s headline, and the paper then detailed Mutreb’s movements on the day Khashoggi went missing.
