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Surveillance Tape Shows a Saudi in Khashoggi's Clothes

Footage shows 'body double' leaving consulate, elsewhere in Istanbul

By Jenn Gidman

In this Jan. 29, 2011, file photo, Saudi Arabian journalist Jamal Khashoggi speaks on his cellphone at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.   (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo, File)

Saudi Arabia has finally admitted Jamal Khashoggi is dead, but a new development adds to suspicion about the Saudis' "shifting narrative": surveillance tape showing a "body double," one of the 15 suspects in Khashoggi's death, coming out of the Saudi Arabian Consulate in Istanbul dressed in Khashoggi's clothes a few hours after the journalist went inside, reports CNN.

A senior Turkish official identifies the man as Mustafa al-Madani, who, per CNN's timeline, entered the consulate just after 11am on Oct. 2, dressed in a blue-and-white checked shirt and dark pants, sans beard; Khashoggi entered the consulate shortly after 1pm. Then, about 3pm, Madani left the consulate through a back door, now with a beard and glasses resembling Khashoggi's, and wearing what seem to be Khashoggi's clothes (images here). Madani was still wearing the white-soled dark sneakers he arrived in.

"Khashoggi's clothes were probably still warm when Madani put them on," a senior Turkish official says. "You don't need a body double for a rendition or an interrogation. This was a premeditated murder." In another, unverified development, a Turkish paper now claims Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman placed a call to Khashoggi at the consulate just before he was killed in an attempt to persuade him to return to Riyadh. Khashoggi reportedly refused, per News.com.au. The same Turkish paper reports a member of the crown prince's entourage placed four calls to the crown prince's secretary from the Saudi consul general's office in Istanbul right after Khashoggi was killed, per CBS News. Meanwhile, the Saudi Foreign Ministry says both the crown prince and King Salman called Khashoggi's oldest son to express condolences, NBC News reports.