Report Reveals Jamal Khashoggi's Last Words

He said 'I can't breathe' before sounds of a saw were heard, source says
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Dec 10, 2018 7:14 AM CST
Report: Khashoggi's Last Words Were 'I Can't Breathe'
The Saudi Arabia flag flies over the consulate in Istanbul, Thursday, Oct. 4, 2018.   (AP Photo/Emrah Gurel)

Jamal Khashoggi's last words were the same as those uttered by New York City man Eric Garner after police put him in a fatal chokehold, according to CNN, which cites a source who has seen a translated transcript of the journalist's last moments in Saudi Arabia's Istanbul consulate. The source says Khashoggi repeatedly said "I can't breathe" after he was set upon by a group of men. The source says the transcript begins when the Saudi journalist enters the consulate and realizes something is amiss when he recognizes one of the men who greets him. "You are coming back," the man says. "I can't do that. People are waiting," says Khashoggi. His fianceé was outside the consulate and waited for him for hours before contacting Turkish authorities, reports Reuters.

The source says that according to the transcript, there was no further conversation before Khashoggi was seized by the men. His last discernible words were "I can't breathe." The transcript notes other noises were heard and other voices spoke before a chilling series of sounds: "Scream. Scream. Gasping. Saw. Cutting." CNN notes that the transcript does not specify exactly when Khashoggi died. The source says a voice identified by Turkish authorities as Salah Muhammad al-Tubaiqi, head of forensic medicine at Saudi Arabia's Interior Ministry, urges those in the room to listen to music to avoid hearing the sounds of the body being cut apart. Another man, identified as Saudi diplomat Maher Abdulaziz Mutreb, is heard giving updates to somebody. "Tell yours, the thing is done, it's done," he says. Investigators believe he was speaking on the phone to a close aide of Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. (More Jamal Khashoggi stories.)

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