Turkish police believe Saudi journalist was killed in consulate

Turkish authorities believe thatprominent Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, who disappeared fourdays ago after entering Saudi Arabia's consulate in Istanbul,was killed inside the consulate, two Turkish sources said onSaturday.

"The initial assessment of the Turkish police is that Mr.Khashoggi has been killed at the consulate of Saudi Arabia inIstanbul. We believe that the murder was premeditated and thebody was subsequently moved out of the consulate," one of thetwo Turkish officials told Reuters.

The Turkish sources did not say how they believed thekilling was carried out.

A Saudi source at the consulate denied that Khashoggi hadbeen killed at the mission and said in a statement that theaccusations were baseless.

The Saudi source said that a security team including Saudiinvestigators had arrived in Istanbul on Saturday to take partin the investigation into Khashoggi's disappearance.

Saudi Arabia's consul-general told Reuters earlier onSaturday that his country was helping search for Khashoggi, anddismissed talk of his possible abduction.

Khashoggi, who has lived in self-imposed exile in Washington, D.C., for the past year fearing retribution for his criticism of Saudipolicies, entered the consulate on Tuesday to secure documentsfor his forthcoming marriage, according to his fiance, whowaited outside. He has not been heard of since.

Since then, Turkish and Saudi officials have offeredconflicting accounts of his disappearance, with Ankara sayingthere was no evidence that he had left the diplomatic missionand Riyadh saying he exited the premises the same day.

The United States is seeking more information, a U.S. StateDepartment official said.

"We are not in a position to confirm these reports, but weare following them closely," the official said.

A Turkish security source told Reuters that a group of 15Saudi nationals, including some officials, had arrived inIstanbul in two planes and entered the consulate on the same dayKhashoggi was there, and later left the country.

The Turkish source said Turkish officials were trying toidentify them. Turkey's Anadolu news agency also reported thatthe group of Saudis were briefly at the consulate.

Deepening divisions

Khashoggi's disappearance is likely to further deependivisions between Turkey and Saudi Arabia. Relations werealready strained after Turkey sent troops to the Gulf state ofQatar last year in a show of support after its Gulf neighbours,including Saudi Arabia, imposed an embargo on Doha.

Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said thisweek that the kingdom would allow Turkey to search the consulatefor Khashoggi. But he also criticized Turkey's crackdownfollowing a 2016 failed coup against Erdogan.

On Saturday, Yasin Aktay, Erdogan's AK Party adviser and afriend of Khashoggi, told Qatari broadcaster Al Jazeera: "Wedemand a convincing clarification from Saudi Arabia, and whatthe crown prince offered is not convincing."

He also said what happened to Khashoggi was a crime andthose responsible for his disappearance must be tried, AlJazeera said.

Turkish prosecutors have begun an investigation into thecase, officials said on Saturday, and a spokesperson for Erdogan'sAK Party said authorities would uncover his whereabouts.

"The condition of the lost journalist, details on him andwho is responsible for this will be uncovered," Omer Celik said.

Critical of Saudi policies

Khashoggi is a familiar face on political talk shows on Arabsatellite television networks and used to advise Prince Turkial-Faisal, former Saudi intelligence chief and ambassador to theUnited States and Britain.

Over the past year, he has written columns for newspapersincluding the Washington Post criticizing Saudi policies toward Qatar and Canada, the war in Yemen and a crackdown on dissentwhich has seen dozens of people detained.

"I have left my home, my family and my job, and I am raisingmy voice," Khashoggi wrote in September 2017. "To do otherwisewould betray those who languish in prison. I can speak when somany cannot."

Two months later, writing about the detentions of scores ofSaudi royals, senior officials and businessmen accused ofcorruption, he said Mohammed bin Salman dispensed "selectivejustice" and said there was "complete intolerance for even mildcriticism" of the crown prince.

On Saturday Saudi Arabia's consul-general in Istanbul,Mohammad al-Otaibi, opened up his mission to Reuters to showthat Khashoggi was not on the premises, and said talk of hisabduction was ungrounded.

Opening cupboards, filing cabinets and wooden panelscovering air conditioning units, Otaibi walked through the sixfloors of the building including a basement prayer room,offices, visa counters, kitchens and toilets as well as storageand security rooms.

He said the consulate was equipped with cameras but they didnot record footage, so no images could be retrieved of Khashoggientering or leaving the consulate, which is ringed by policebarriers and has high security fences topped with barbedwire.