Journalist Jamal Khashoggi’s body was dissolved, says Turkish official

An advisor to Turkish President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that the body of journalist Jamal Khashogi was dissolved after he was murdered in the Saudi consulate a month ago.

A turkish official had told the Washington Post, that authorities are investigating a theory that the body was destroyed in acid.

“We now see that it wasn’t just cut up, they got rid of the body by dissolving it,” Yasin Aktay, an advisor to Erdogan and official in Turkey’s ruling party, told the Hurriyet newspaper on Friday.

“According to the latest information we have, the reason they cut up the body is it was easier to dissolve it,” Aktay said.

Saudi Arabia has faced a lot of international condemnation over the killing of the royal-insider.

Turkey’s chief prosecutor on Wednesday confirmed for the first time that Khashoggi was strangled as soon as he entered the consulate on October 2 as part of a planned hit, and his body was then dismembered and destroyed.

“They aimed to ensure no sign of the body was left. This is what is understood from the prosecutor’s statement, said Aktay, who was close to the journalist.

“Killing an innocent person is one crime, the treatment and extent of what was done to the body is another crime and dishonour.”

The Turkish offical who was quoted by the Washington Post said that biological evidence was found in the consulate’s garden which indicated that the body was likely disposed of near Khashoggi’s death place.

“Khashoggi’s body was not in need of burying,” the official told the US newspaper on the condition of anonymity.

The authorities of Saudi Arabia have denied Turkish police permission to search for a well bit have allowed them to take water samples for analysis, as per local media reports.

Because of the murder, strain has been placed on the old allaince between the United States and Saudi Arabia. It has also tarnished the image of Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman, the kingdom’s de facto ruler.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said that it may take some more weeks before Washington has enough evidence to impose sanctions on the individuals who are responsible.