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Saudi Arabia on Khashoggi: ‘We Don’t Know Where the Body Is’

While an anonymous Saudi official claims it was rolled up into a rug and given to a local helper for disposal.

Saudi Arabia has pushed back against claims Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman played a role in journalist Jamal Khashoggi’s death and suggested that Saudi leaders are just as confused about the killing as the rest of the world. In an interview with Fox News on Sunday, Saudi Arabian Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir insisted the Saudi government doesn’t even know where Khashoggi’s body is after he was killed in a “rogue operation” in the consulate in Istanbul. “We don’t know, in terms of details, how [he was killed.] We don’t know where the body is,” he said, later dodging a question about why an autopsy expert was reportedly brought to the consulate. A Saudi official who spoke to Reuters on the condition of anonymity Sunday offered a different version from Turkey's claim that the body was dismembered, claiming Khashoggi had been killed by a chokehold and his body then rolled up into a rug and given to a “local cooperator” for disposal. Jubeir blamed the killing on Saudi individuals operating “outside the scope of their authority,” claiming Saudi leaders initially denied the murder because they’d been misled by those trying to cover up the crime. “They made a mistake when they killed Jamal Khashoggi in the consulate and they tried to cover up for it,” he said. Jubeir also offered condolences to Khashoggi’s family, saying, “We feel their pain. I wish this didn’t happen. I wish this could’ve been avoided.”

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