Khashoggi's fiancee breaks silence on his murder at Saudi consulate

ISTANBUL: The fiancee of slain Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi said on Friday he assumed Saudi authorities would not interrogate or arrest him in Turkey, although he was concerned tensions would arise when he visited the consulate in Istanbul.

In an interview with Turkish broadcaster Haberturk, Hatice Cengiz said Khashoggi had not wanted to go to the Saudi consulate.

The killing of Khashoggi, a Washington Post contributor critical of Riyadh, in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on October 2 has sparked international backlash against the kingdom.

Saudi Arabia is seeking to draw a line under the crisis but a string of gruesome details about the murder have continued to appear in the Turkish media.

Khashoggi, 59, had been living in self-exile in the United States since 2017.

Khashoggi, a Washington Post contributing columnist who had criticized policies of powerful Prince Mohammed, had been self-exiled in the United States for about a year.

Prince Mohammed, the kingdom’s de facto ruler, this week denounced what he called the “repulsive murder” in his first public comments on the case.

Asked about the prince’s possible involvement in the killing, US President Donald Trump told the Wall Street Journal on Tuesday: “Well, the prince is running things over there… so if anybody were going to be, it would be him.”