Jamal Khashoggi murder tape reveals journalist's final words were 'I can't breathe'

Murdered Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi’s dying words were revealed today.

According to a new report, the Washington Post columnist gasped “I can’t breathe” three times in the seconds before he died after allegedly being attacked by a hit squad inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in October.

The murder was reportedly caught on tape by Turkish officials and a transcript is said to mention “screams” before the alleged assassins can be heard cutting up the victim’s body.

Revealing Mr Khashoggi’s final words for the first time, a source also told CNN that the transcript notes that a number of phone calls were made during the gruesome incident, informing an unnamed official of the progress.

This appears to contradict claims by the Saudis that the killing was the result of a kidnap attempt that went awry.

CNN identifies one man quoted in the transcript as Dr Salah Muhammad al-Tubaiqi, the head of forensic medicine at Saudi Arabia’s interior ministry. He is said to have told the people dismembering the journalist’s body to listen to music to drown out the noise.

The Turkish government has not said how it obtained the recording.

Mr Khashoggi, an outspoken critic of the kingdom’s government, was attacked moments after going into the consulate to collect documents for his impending marriage.