Saudi Consul-General Mohammad al-Otabi speaks to reporters on 6 October (Reuters)
Seventeen days after he vanished entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, Saudi officials confirmed late Friday that veteran journalist Jamal Khashoggi was killed there.
Early on, Saudi authorities were insistent that Khashoggi left the consulate through a backdoor soon after an appointment to pick up paperwork so he could remarry.
But in a statement on Saudi state television on Friday, the country's chief prosecutor said a fight broke out between the 59-year-old and "people who met him" in the consulate.
Heres how the Saudi narrative has shifted:
2 October
Hatice Cengiz, Khashoggi's fiance, waits outside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul for him to return. After three hours, she asks consulate staff where he is. She is told he already left the building through the back door.
4 October
Saudi officials say that Khashoggi left premises before disappearing. Turkish officials, meanwhile, say he is still inside.
5 October
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman – commonly referred to as MBS – tells Bloomberg that Khashoggi is not inside the consulate, adding that he is not against a Turkish investigation taking place and searching the mission.
Mohammed bin Salman gives interview to journalists on 3 October (Source: Saudi Royal Court)
"My understanding is he entered and he got out after a few minutes or one hour. I'm not sure. We are investigating this through the foreign ministry to see exactly what happened at that time," the crown prince said.
6 October
Saudi officials open the consulate in Istanbul to Reuters journalists.
During their visit, Saudi Consul-General Mohammad al-Otabi tells reporters: "I would like to confirm that … Jamal is not at the consulate nor in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and the consulate and the embassy are working to search for him . . . We are worried about his case."
Otaibi also says the consulate is equipped with cameras, but they did not record any footage the day of Khashoggi's disappearance.
7 October
The state-run Saudi Press Agency reports that an unidentified Saudi official from the consulate in Istanbul "dismisses" a Reuters report that Khashoggi was killed inside the consulate.
“The official strongly denounced these baseless allegations, and expressed his doubt that they came from Turkish officials that are informed of the investigation or are authorised to comment on the issue," the report says.
In the statement, the official also says that “a security delegation of Saudi investigators arrived in Istanbul on Saturday based upon a request by the Saudi government".
The report concludes: “The source stressed that the kingdom holds the safety and well-being of its citizens wherever they are, and that relevant authorities in the kingdom are diligently following up on this matter to uncover the complete facts."
8 October
Axios reporter Jonathan Swan receives an unsolicited WhatsApp message from the Saudi ambassador to the United States, Prince Khalid bin Salman, denying any allegations about Saudi governmental involvement in Khashoggis disappearance.
”I assure you that the reports that suggest that Jamal Khashoggi went missing in the Consulate in Istanbul or that the Kingdoms authorities have detained him or killed him are absolutely false, and baseless,” he said, according to a post Swan writes four days later.
Swan thanks him and asked whether there is footage of Khashoggi leaving the consulate.
“Im still waiting for a reply," Swan writes on 12 October.
9 October
Saudi Arabias ambassador to the US, Prince Khalid bin Salman bin Abdulaziz, denies that the journalist was killed or detained.
He says: “I assure you that the reports that suggest that Jamal Khashoggi went missing in the consulate in Istanbul or that the Kingdoms authorities have detained him or killed him are absolutely false and baseless.”
10 October
Saudi owned media outlet Al-Arabiya reports that the Khashoggi case is riddled with “misreported news, dubious sources and orchestrated media campaigns".
According to the report, three key figures – Khashoggi's fiance, Hatice Cengiz, Turan Kislakci, the head of the Turkish-Arab Media Association, and Al Jazeera correspondent Jamal Elshayyal – are "exaggerating and embellishing the story with fake news to spark panic and place blame on Saudi authorities".
11 October
The following day, Al-Arabiya reports that 15 Saudis who arrived in Turkey on the same day Khashoggi disappeared – and whom Turkish officials say are suspected of being involved – are “tourists falsely accused of killing Khashoggi”.
12 October
In a report by state-run Saudi Press Agency, Saudi Minister of the Interior, Prince Abdulaziz bin Saud bin Naif bin Abdulaziz, denounces “false accusations circulated in some media on the Saudi government and people against the background of the disappearance of the Saudi citizen Jamal Khashoggi".
Claims that the journalist was killed he says are “lies and baseless allegations against the government of the kingdom, which is committed to its principles, rules and traditions and is in compliance with international laws and conventions".
14 October
With pressure from the international community growing, another official Saudi statement speaks out against “threats and attempts to undermine it,” citing economic sanctions, “political pressure” and the repeating of “false accusations that … undermined the kingdom.”
Pointing to the countrys “vital role in the global economy”, the official promises it will respond to pressure: “The kingdom also affirms that if it receives any action, it will respond with greater action.”
Separately, in an Al-Arabiya op-ed entitled 'US sanctions on Riyadh would be mean Washington is stabbing itself", Saudi journalist and commentator Turki Aldahkil writes: “All of this will throw the Middle East, the entire Muslim world, into the arms of Iran, which will become closer to Riyadh than Washington.”
Other prominent Saudi figures stress that Aldahkil is speaking in a personal capacity.
A tweet urges users to "unfollow enemies of the nations" and used the hashtag #كلنا_ثقه_في_محمد_بن_سلمان which translates to "we all have trust in Mohammed bin Salman. It has been retweeted 250,000 times.
Pretty heavy traffic on this hashtag, which, as the great @marcowenjones and @josh_emerson pointed out, has been trending in Saudi on the #Khashoggi case.
103k mentions, per @sysomos #الغاء_متابعه_اعداء_الوطن (unfollow enemies of the nation) pic.twitter.com/MdH2askInq
— Ben Nimmo (@benimmo) October 17, 2018
On 18 October, Twitter reportedly pulls down bot network that is pushing pro-Saudi talking points.
15 October
CNN reports that the Saudis are preparing to admit Khashoggi died during an interrogation gone wrong.
17 October
The Saudi government releases another statement after a speech by former Saudi Minister of Justice Abdullah bin Mohammed bin Ibrahim Al Al-Sheikh at the Inter-Parliamentary Union in Geneva.
The Saudi Press Agency reports that Al-Sheikh "affirmed that misleading campaigns against the kingdom of Saudi Arabia will not impede the kingdom to commit its principles and values and will not affect its position at the Arab, Islamic and international arenas.
It also reports that he "lauded the positive stances expressed by a number of countries, figures, organizations and parliamentary councils not being influenced by rumors and fake news".
18 October
The New York Times reports that Saudi rulers are considering blaming Maj General Ahmed al-Assiri, a top intelligence official close to MBS, for Khashoggi's killing.
19 October
In a statement on Saudi state television report, the country's chief prosecutor confirms that Khashoggi was killed inside the consulate when a fight broke out.
A Saudi official tells Reuters that MBS had no knowledge of the operation that killed Khashoggi: “There were no orders for them to kill him or even specifically kidnap him."
Several high-level figures – including Assiri and MBS's close advisor, Saoud al-Qahtani – are dismissed.
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