Ex-CIA expert: No audiotape on Khashoggi was given to US intelligence

Turkey has not provided any evidence to US intelligence, including the alleged audiotape, in relation to the disappearance of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, an ex CIA expert told Al Arabiya English.

The source, who preferred to remain anonymous, said “unknown parties have been providing local and international media with conflicting reports and information.”

“Among the information are the claims to have an audio and video footage, then (they) changed their statement to just audio recording. Then was pushing the Apple watch theory to find out that the system of the watch does not support their allegations,” the ex CIA employee said.

The source also debunked the accusations directed at the 15 Saudi tourists who were portrayed in the media as agents sent to kill Khashoggi.

“Passengers of any private jets would never go through commercial terminals. VIP or private terminals are in a different area, have different immigration offices, and different exit routes used by any VIP,” the source said.

“Why would the Saudis bring their own saw from their country? No saws in Turkey? This is a ridiculous claim. MBS is a smart individual and surrounded by smart people. These claims are immature and laughable,” he told Al Arabiya English.

“All the accusations that were sourced from Turkey make no sense and the slow Saudi reaction is smart,” he added.

Previously some local Qatari, Turkish and US media quoted unnamed “sources” as claiming they have been presented with video and audio recordings of the murder of Saudi dissident Jamal Khashoggi inside Saudi consulate in Istanbul.

The claimed material was gathered, according to those sources, from his Apple Watch, which Khashoggi, reportedly, has turned on its recording function before the claimed crime.

However, those claims were debunked. They turned out to be an additional lie to a long list of rumors related to the Khashoggi’s case coverage.

A Tech Crunch fact-checker report stated:

“But even if Khashoggi entered the Saudi consulate wearing that model, a third-generation Apple Watch (which Khashoggi was pictured wearing) does not support cellular connections in Turkey, effectively ruling out any chance that his health data synced either with his iPhone outside or Apple’s servers.

“It’s also unlikely that the watch connected to a known Wi-Fi network inside the consulate, or that the watch was within close enough range to sync with his iPhone outside using Bluetooth.

“In any case, if health data from Khashoggi’s watch was transmitted over the air to Apple’s iCloud where it could be synced with his iPhone, the data is end-to-end encrypted with his passcode.

“Not even Apple — and therefore law enforcement — can access this data, meaning any evidence of his whereabouts will be on his iPhone.”

On Twitter, others also speculated about the fingerprint unlock feature that Daily Sabah mentioned, as unlocking an Apple Watch using fingerprint verification is not a feature of the device, an Apple representative told CNN.

One single truth about Jamal Khashoggi case remains amid media rumors