Suspect in murder of Saudi journalist dies in accident
Suspect Mashal Saad al-Bostani died in a car accident that Turkish media described as "suspicious".
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Mashal Saad al-Bostani, suspect in the disappearance of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. Photo: Hurriyet. |
DailyYeni SafakTürkiye's state-run news agency reported on October 18 that Mashal Saad al-Bostani, 31, a lieutenant in the Royal Saudi Air Force, died in a "suspicious car accident" in Riyadh.
Al-Bostani is one of 15 suspects believed to be involved in the disappearance of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. He was present at the Saudi Arabian consulate in Istanbul on October 2, the day Khashoggi entered but did not emerge.
According to the newspaper, al-Bostani died shortly after returning from Türkiye. However, they did not reveal details about the accident or al-Bostani's role in Khashoggi's disappearance.
Previously, the newspaperSabahTürkiye's state-run news agency posted a security camera image showing a man who appears to be al-Bostani at Istanbul's Ataturk airport on October 2.
The newspaper also provided a photo of another suspect, Maher Abdulaziz M. Mutreb, 47, an intelligence officer who worked for the Saudi Arabian embassy in Britain.
Mutreb landed in Istanbul at 3:38 a.m. on October 2 and arrived at the Saudi Arabian consulate at 9:55 a.m. A few hours after Khashoggi went to the consulate to register his marriage to his Saudi fiancée and disappeared, Mutreb also left the consulate and headed to Ataturk Airport to board a private plane back home at 5:58 p.m.
US President Donald Trump yesterday said that Khashoggi was likely dead, after being informed by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo about the content of the meeting with King Salman of Saudi Arabia. He declared that sanctions against Saudi Arabia would be "very severe" because this "was a very bad thing".
