Identifying the "evil" team in the murder of journalist Khashoggi

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is under pressure over the scandal of the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

According to the Middle East Eye newspaper, new revelations partly indicate a connection between the death squad operating under the supervision and command of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

Firqat el-Nemr, or the “tiger squad”, is well known to the US intelligence agency. This squad was established more than a year ago and includes 50 of the most elite people from the intelligence and military units, including forensic experts.

Members of the squad are selected from various units, serving directly under Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS).

The Middle East Eye (MEE) exclusively revealed the activities of this death squad, based on sources close to the Saudi royal family.

The mission of the “tiger” squad is to assassinate Saudi dissidents in the kingdom or abroad, in ways that no one knows about.

Major General Ahmed al-Assiri, deputy director of Saudi Arabia's intelligence agency, lost his position over the scandal of the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

“The Saudi royal family believes that arresting people like journalist Jamal Khashoggi will only escalate the situation, so it is best to silence them forever,” the source told MEE.

The methods of this death squad are very diverse. For journalist Jamal Khashoggi, it seems to have been torture and dismemberment right at the consulate in Türkiye on October 2.

The team is also said to know how to stage assassinations to look like accidents, like car crashes or house fires. They also have deadly viruses to slowly kill their victims.

The death squad leader was Major General Ahmed al-Assiri, deputy head of Saudi Arabia's intelligence agency, who was sacked last week after the assassination was revealed.

The members of the "tiger" squad are all the most elite and include members personally selected by the crown prince.

“Assiri is known as the ‘Tiger of the South’. The Saudi media calls him the ‘beast’ and he loves this nickname,” the source said.

Under the crown prince

The figures who lost power because of the Khashoggi assassination scandal, including Major General Assiri and advisor Saoud al-Qahtani, were all close to Crown Prince MBS.

The Crown Prince also personally selected five of the most loyal members of his personal bodyguard team to form the “tiger squad,” the source added.

They were among 15 men who traveled to Türkiye on a mission to kill Khashoggi. The names that have emerged include Maher Abdulaziz Mutrib, Mohammed al-Zahrani and Dhaar al-Harbi.

Mutrib is a major general who accompanied Crown Prince MBS to Boston, Houston and the United Nations headquarters in New York earlier this year.

Mutrib is described as the “nerve of the tiger squad”, selected and trusted by the crown prince. The crown prince will directly contact these people to supervise the mission.

Türkiye recorded 14 phone calls from Mutrib on October 2, the day Khashoggi was murdered. Seven of them were to the crown prince's office.

The source said Mutrib and three others gave Khashoggi morphine before the journalist was dismembered inside the consulate.

All in just 7 minutes

Tubaigy took a private flight to Türkiye.

Members of the 15-man hit squad that went to Türkiye to kill journalist Khashoggi included a forensic expert, according to MEE. Everything happened from the first cut to the end in just 7 minutes.

Khashoggi was dragged onto the table screaming and struggling helplessly, the source told MEE. “They didn’t interrogate him or threaten him, they just came to kill him,” the source said.

Khashoggi stopped screaming when he was injected with morphine. Salah Muhammad al-Tubaigy, the head of Saudi Arabia's forensics department, got to work. Tubaigy dismembered the body and finished in seven minutes. Khashoggi was completely dead.

According to the source, Tubaigy wore headphones and listened to music while performing the task. He also encouraged other members of the squad to do the same. “When I do these things, I listen to music. Everyone should do the same,” the source told MEE. The New York Times reported that Tubaigy was also equipped with a saw blade to help him work faster.

The death squad then cleaned up the crime scene so thoroughly that Turkish investigators, when ordered to search the Saudi Arabian consulate, found no trace of it.

Khashoggi’s remains have not been found as of October 26. There were reports of consulate vehicles being seen entering the woods, but it is unclear whether they were there to dispose of the body.

Assassinate members of the royal family?

The assassination of journalist Khashoggi appears to be just one of many missions carried out by the death squad since its inception.

One of the first operations is believed to have been the assassination of Prince Mansour bin Moqren, deputy governor of Asir province - son of the deposed former crown prince.

Prince Mansour bin Moqren died in a "helicopter crash" last year.

Prince Mansour emerged as a rival to Crown Prince MBS. The prince died in a helicopter “crash” while trying to leave the country. Mansour’s death was part of a purge of members of the royal family that began last November.

Dozens of princes, ministers and billionaires were arrested and detained at the Riyadh Ritz-Carlton hotel.

A member of the hit squad named Meshal Saad al-Bostani is said to have piloted a helicopter that fired a missile directly at Prince Mansour's helicopter.

“Bostani was a royal Saudi pilot. He made it look like a helicopter crash,” the source said. Bostani, 31, died mysteriously in a car crash on October 18.

Bostani was apparently eliminated for holding the secret to the deaths of Prince Mansour and journalist Khashoggi.

The hit squad also carried out the assassination of Judge Suliman Abdul Rahman al Thuniyan at a hospital in Riyadh on October 1.

“I believe they used a deadly virus to make him die naturally, during a routine check-up at the hospital.”

Thuniyan is known to be an opponent of Crown Prince MBS's policies. He once wrote a letter opposing the crown prince's economic vision for 2030.

But the murder of journalist Khashoggi was the first mission this special forces carried out abroad.