The disappeared Saudi dissident was kidnapped, says one former U.S. official quoted by the Washington Post. The arrival and rapid departure of a Saudi security team “bore the hallmarks of a “rendition,” the official said.

Khashoggi got the same treatment as terror suspects renditioned by the United states,(although the U.S. does not usually kill and dismember its captives, as the Saudis reportedly did to Khashoggi.)

While the ideology and culture of intelligence services may vary widely, they share many operational techniques.

Listen in:

A former U.S. intelligence official — who, like others, spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive matter — noted that the details of the operation, which involved sending two teams totaling 15 men, in two private aircraft arriving and departing Turkey at different times, bore the hallmarks of a “rendition,” in which someone is extra­legally removed from one country and deposited for interrogation in another.

Source: Crown prince sought to lure Khashoggi back to Saudi Arabia and detain him, U.S. intercepts show – The Washington Post