killed as a have been killed as a vintage world war ii bomber crashed. those are the headlines. stay with us on bbc news. now on bbc news — panorama. jamal khashoggi. smart, kind... ..an outspoken saudi journalist. he vanished after walking into an embassy. tonight on panorama, we hear from two women who've listened to recordings of what happened next. the horror of listening to somebody‘s voice and the fear in someone‘s voice makes a shiver go through your body. the sound will indicate he has been suffocated — probably with a plastic bag,

over his head. a year on, his body has still not been found. will those responsible forjamal khashoggi's killing get away with it? we entered a big room, meeting rooms with a large machine for listening to tapes. un human rights expert agnes callamard led an investigation into jamal khashoggi's disappearance. in total we listened to 45 minutes, which covered two days. this is the saudi consulate in istanbul, turkey. we only know jamal khashoggi was murdered and the brutal way in which it was done because the saudi consulate was bugged by turkish intelligence.

the planning and the execution were all recorded. agnes callamard negotiated access to these crucial recordings. the intention clearly on the part of turkey to give me access to those calls was to help me prove planning and premeditation. joining her investigation team was british barrister helena kennedy. she took detailed notes. there was a discussion about, will the body and the hips fit in the bag this way? they are two of the very few people who have been allowed to hear the tapes. about halfway through, they say, you know, "you shouldn't be taking all of these notes," and i said "well, i'm sorry," and then, you know, i carried on doing it.

istanbul — where east meets west — the city where jamal khashoggi spent the final weeks of his life. hi, i'mjane. he was here with his turkish fiancee, phd student, hatice cengiz. translation: the first thing that caught my attention was he was sensitive and softly spoken. he was so knowledgeable, he had a very rich intellect. jamal was divorced and met hatice in may last year. jamal met my family, we talked about the life we could build here. he wanted to have a home in turkey. last september, cctv captured jamal with hatice visiting a turkish

registry office to ask what documents they needed to get married. they were told they had to go to the saudi consulate to get his divorce papers. translation: this was the last resort. he had to go and get those documents from the consulate for us to get officially married because he couldn't go back to his own country. jamal was living in exile from saudi arabia. but he hadn't always been an outcast. i met him 15 years ago when he was at the heart of the saudi establishment — spokesman at their embassy in london. we talked about a recent terror attack by al-qaeda. al-qaeda sees itself as representative of the struggle between islam and crusaders. after working at the embassy in london, jamal returned to saudi. he edited a newspaper but was banned from writing after speaking his mind

under a regime he was now finding autocratic and repressive. in 2017, he fled to america. i wish i could go home and take part but the environment isn't welcoming to me or any saudi writers or economists who is independent. jamal khashoggi was invited to write for the washington post. he was working with his friend, david ignatius, the paper's investigative journalist with a deep knowledge of saudi. he used to love to come to this newsroom. he'd walk around and look in offices and see people work and he just beamed. jamal wrote 20 columns in the year before his death. "saudi arabia wasn't always this repressive. now it's unbearable. it is the only home we know or want. yet we are the enemy."

this man — the new saudi crown prince, mohammed bin salman — was a target of jamal‘s criticism. mbs, as he's known, was hailed by many in the west as a reformer. very nice people. president trump praised him on high—profile trips to washington. it's an honour to have the crown prince of saudi arabia with us. our relationship is probably the strongest it's ever been. we understand each other. at home, however, mbs was soon cracking down on anyone who opposed him. human rights activists and journalists. all highlighted by jamal khashoggi in the post. "i am raising my voice. i can speak when so many cannot."

this was not the image of his leadership that the crown prince wanted to project. i think that particularly aggravated him and he kept asking his aides to do something about this jamal problem. the saudis were presented with just the opportunity in istanbul. whenjamal was told he had to get his proof of divorce, he and hatice went to the saudi consulate straight away. they were surprised to see him, and offered him tea and coffee. he was really pleased, he told me there was nothing to be afraid of, that he missed his country so much. jamal was told to come back in a few days. but as soon as he was gone, phone calls were being made back to saudi arabia. this was the beginning of a murder plot. what was interesting about those phone calls is that it referred

to mr khashoggi as one of the persons that was being sought. the phone calls recorded by turkish intelligence show the crown prince's communications office had been alerted. it was run by this powerful aide — saud al-qahtani. someone in communication had authorised the mission. it makes sense to see that reference to the communication office as being a reference to mr saud al-qahtani. al-qahtani wasn't just handling media operations for the crown prince. he was reportedly behind the torture of women activists who dared to drive. and a round—up of saudi princes suspected of disloyalty. "mbs's communications team within the royal court publicly has chastised, and worse, intimidated anyone who disagrees. saud al-qahtani, leader of that

unit has a blacklist." he began doing extraordinary services, secret black operations involving cyber security. the saudis for many years have had a policy of, you know, trying to suppress dissent. that became part of his portfolio and he managed it with a particular ruthlessness. the recorded phone calls reveal other senior saudi officials were part of the plot. there are conversations between the consul—general and the head of security at the ministry foreign affairs. he's saying, "say that the mission is a national duty." there's no doubt in my mind this was a seriously, highly—organised mission coming from the top. this was not some flaky maverick operation, no, no.

three saudi intelligence officers fly into istanbul. it's now known two worked in the office of the crown prince. the first team that arrives in istanbul is, in my opinion, a reconnaissance mission. they determine how it can be done, what can be done, what cannot be done. metin ersoz, a turkish intelligence officer for 27 years is an expert on saudi special operations. saudi intelligence became more aggressive after mohammad bin salman was assigned as the crown prince. they started the kidnapping operations and pressuring dissidents. cctv shows a private jet arriving in the early hours of the morning.

on board are more saudis. among them, a doctor. the operation was conducted by state officials, they were acting in their official capacities. they came to turkey, using state resources, a private jet, for instance. two of them had diplomatic passport. translation: they were apparently trained for this. they look very relaxed. their diplomatic immunity made them feel more comfortable. they go through the controls with ease. the saudi team checked into the movenpick hotel close to the saudi consulate. at what sort of level would this

kind of operation have had approval? in saudi arabia the only person who can give approval to this kind of operation is either the king or the prince. just before 10am, one of the new arrivals is seen entering the saudi consulate. maher abdulaziz mutreb had received some of the calls from istanbul four days earlier. mutreb is the person who runs this operation. in the calls that are happening between the consul—general and mutreb, there's a reference to the fact that, "we received the information — khashoggi will be coming on tuesday." mutreb regularly travelled with the crown prince, discreetly in the background as part of his security team. here he is in downing street. on that morning of october 2nd,

jamal received a call to collect his documents. as he and hatice walked towards the building, a chilling conversation was taking place inside. it was between mutreb and the doctor — salah al—tubaigy, a forensic pathologist. he talks about how, when he's doing autopsies, he says, "i often play music when i'm cutting cadavers." and he says, "and sometimes i have a coffee and a cigar at hand." it's just so cold and callous. he says, "it's the first time in my life that i'll have had to cut pieces on the ground. even if you're a butcher and you want to cut, he hangs the animal up to do so." an upstairs office in the consulate was being made ready.

translation: they came prepared to dismember him. the fact that they protected the second floor against blood and other secretions shows this. they speak about when khashoggi is to arrive and they say, "has the sacrificial animal arrived 7 " sacrificial animal? that's how they refer to him. i rememberwe walked hand in hand. then, when we arrived in front of the consulate, jamal gave me his phones and said, "see you later, darling." you can hear them laughing. it's a sort of chilling business. they're waiting there, knowing that this man is going to come in and he's going to be murdered. cctv shows the last picture of jamal khashoggi entering the consulate. a reception committee is waiting for him, unaware they are being recorded.

there was a point where you can hear khashoggi moving from being a man who's a confident person towards a sense of fear, a sense of anxiety, rising anxiety, rising terror and then knowing that something fatal is about to happen. he's asking, "are you going to do that to me? are you going to give me an injection? " to which he's being said, "yes." he says, "am i'm being kidnapped? how could this happen in an embassy?" the sounds that are heard after that point indicate that he's suffocated. probably with a plastic bag over his head. it's now the forensic pathologist takes over. and you hear a voice saying, "let him cut," and it sounds like mutreb.

"let him cut," and then somebody shouting, "it's over, it's over." and someone else shouting, "take it off, take it off." someone says, "he's a dog." "put this on his head." "wrap it, wrap it," so one can only assume that they had removed his head. less than half an hour had passed since jamal had left hatice outside the consulate. translation: during that time, i was dreaming — dreaming of my future, of what our wedding would be like. that afternoon, cctv shows black vehicles leaving the consulate building and arriving at the consul—general‘s residence two streets away. cameras record three men entering with suitcases and plastic bags. parts of the bodies may have been

put into various plastic bags, which are seen being moved from the consulate into the residence. we've been told that, of course, the body was cut up using a surgical saw. i couldn't hear anything like that but one of the intelligence officers says, "can't you hear that?" it was a very, very low sound. a sort of humming? sort of... humming. according to the saudis, their cctv inside the residence wasn't working. what happened to jamal‘s body is unknown. that afternoon, two of the hit squad are captured leaving the consulate. one man is dressed in jamal khashoggi's clothes. there was a very large degree of planning to give the impression that nothing harmful had happened

to mr khashoggi. the men go to istanbul's famous blue mosque. when they emerge, the lookalike is dressed differently. they're smiling as they head down into a subway back to their hotel. while the saudis were trying to cover their tracks, hatice was still waiting outside the consulate. translation: i waited and waited and waited there, and jamal didn't appear. a guard told me he didn't know what i was talking about when i asked him whyjamal didn't come out. a desperate hatice then phoned a friend of jamal‘s. a member of turkey's ruling party, dr yasin aktay, who has contacts at the highest levels. "wait there," i said,

and very quickly i call the head of the intelligence of turkey. he is good friend of mine, also a confidante. and i call his deputy. i said, "there is a very serious problem," and of course i try to inform also the office of the president. while yasin was alerting the turkish authorities, mutreb, the team leader, was seen leaving the consular residence. his work appeared to be over. by that evening he and others in the hit squad had flown out by private jet to riyadh, less than 2a hours after they'd arrived. for hours, hatice waited outside the consulate. jamal‘s disappearance was becoming an international story. the next day, the saudis

and the turks issued contradictory statements about what had happened in here. the saudis insisted that jamal khashoggi had left the consulate, but the turks said he was still inside. by now, turkish intelligence was pouring over the consulate recordings, including the conversations four days before jamal disappeared. do you think the turks knew this was going to happen? no, i don't think they knew. there is no evidence that they were listening live to what was happening. this kind of intelligence is done on a regular basis. only because mr khashoggi was killed and disappeared did they return to the tape. as the turkish authorities investigate, a saudi cover—up begins. the consul—general, who had been aware of the planning, gave reuters journalists a tour

of the consulate. translation: you can see it through his body language. panic, confusion, wide eyes, hastiness — these are indicators he is trying to mask something. saudi claims of innocence didn't wash. that evening, turkish authorities told the media jamal had been murdered in the consulate. translation: jamal didn't deserve this, he really did not deserve this. the way they killed him, it killed all my hope in life. i said, it cannot happen,

how he was being killed and cut and he was, that's impossible, how, in this time, in istanbul, in turkey by saudi arabia, how, how, how, in the consulate? the killing in istanbul, inside an embassy building with diplomatic immunity put turkey on the spot. no—one from the turkish government was prepared to speak to us, but osman sert, a former ministerial advisor, knows how the political machine works. it's a very huge blow on turkey. first, the sovereignty, you cannot do this on its very prominent city. secondly, as a political blow. turkey is not a safe haven for anyone. saudi arabia, or any kind of country, you can come and do something and that's a very, you know, humiliating.

another team of saudis came to the consulate claiming to investigate what had happened to jamal. turkish police weren't allowed in until two weeks after the murder. there was nothing there, not even dna evidence of mr khashoggi having been there. the only logical conclusion is that the place was thoroughly, forensically cleaned. first, the saudis denied everything, then claimed jamal had died in a fist fight in the consulate. so, they didn't admit that they'd done it? no, they didn't. they thought they would get away with it? yes, yes, they tried that. there will nothing be happened and everybody will forget, but it didn't. day by day, they accepted piece by piece but it was too late and too little, because they need to sacrifice mohammed bin salman and they decided not to. the turkish authorities decided

to leak what they knew to the press. the turkish strategy wasn't just to use the media to force the saudis to own up to the murder. amongst them mi6, access to the recordings from inside the consulate. the cia reportedly came to the conclusion there was a "medium to high certainty" that the crown prince had ordered the killing. they briefed congressmen, who were left in no doubt about the finding. were you convinced by what you heard from the intelligence community that responsibility for this reached right to the top, to the crown prince? the murder of a saudi journalist on foreign soil is of such great consequence that i think it beggars imagination to contemplate that this would have happened without the crown prince's involvement.

at the g20 international summit, the crown prince was visibly cold—shouldered. the us treasury sanctioned i7 saudis. but president trump emphasised the value of saudi trade, brushed off the question of the crown prince's involvement in the murder. maybe he did and maybe he didn't, but i will say very strongly that it's a very important ally. was the president being honest with the american people? uh, no, we have a very good idea of exactly what happened and to suggest otherwise i don't think was levelling with the american people. it was rather an opportunity to give cover to the saudi government so that he could continue business as usual, which is pretty much precisely what he has done since. in his final column, published posthumously, jamal khashoggi criticised the lack of international response to saudi human rights abuses. "instead, these actions may trigger

condemnation, quickly followed by silence. " and that's what happened in jamal‘s case. the crown prince is once more being courted by the international community. next year, the g20 will be held in riyadh. symbolically, it's extremely wrong. it's sending the wrong message to saudi arabia. violating the prohibition against torture. violating the prohibition against enforced disappearance, and then have a meeting all friendly in riyadh. the saudi government finally admitted jamal khashoggi was killed inside the consulate but claimed it was a rogue operation. 11 people are currently on trial in riyadh, including mutreb, who led the team in istanbul and the doctor. but not al-qahtani, the alleged mastermind back in saudi. he's sometimes described

as being under house arrest but i'm told that he continues to use his phones, consult with former colleagues. for all i know, he continues to talk to mohammad bin salman himself. given the personal relationship between mr al-qahtani and the crown prince, i think it is a logical inference to suggest that mr al-qahtani is probably protected by the crown prince. the saudi government declined to be interviewed by panorama but told us it, "condemns the abhorrent killing of jamal khashoggi inside the consulate, and it's committed to hold the perpetrators accountable. " it said that the crown prince had "absolutely nothing to do with this heinous crime". agnes callamard's report on what happened in the consulate reached a decisive conclusion.

there is no indication under international law that this crime could be qualified under any other way but as a state killing. as tension ramps up in the middle east, america and britain have reaffirmed their support for the saudis as a vital ally in the region. even though the repercussions of the murder in the consulate go far beyond the death of one journalist. translation: it's notjust a tragedy for me but all humanity, all the people who think like jamal and who take a stance like him. something treacherous and terrible happened in that embassy. the international community has a responsibility to insist on a high level judicial enquiry, because the rule of law matters in the world, and once you start dismembering that and start disrespecting it,

then anything goes and you're talking about chaos. there doesn't seem to be the international political will to hold accountable all those really responsible for the murder of jamal khashoggi. to which he's being said, "yes."

this is bbc news. welcome if you're watching here in the uk, on pbs in america, or around the globe. i'm reged ahmad. our top stories: democrats hit back as president trump calls on beijing to launch an inquiry into political rival joe biden and his son. china should start an investigation into the bidens because what happened to china is just about as bad as what happened with, uh, with ukraine. in the uk, prime minister boris johnson's brexit plan faces opposition in both parliament and the eu. over a thousand lung injury cases related to vaping are reported in north america, as officials confirm the death toll stands at 18. and a special report from iraq on the sexual exploitation