Forensics team searches Saudi Consulate
Turkish crime scene investigators dressed in coveralls and gloves entered the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul on Monday, nearly two weeks after the disappearance and alleged slaying of Saudi writer Jamal Khashoggi there.
Police officers carrying files and equipment walked through the heavy metal doors of the consulate after sunset, carrying out an extraordinary search of a diplomatic post that is otherwise considered foreign soil under international law as worldwide concern grows for the missing Washington Post columnist.
The search represents new co-operation between Turkey, which says it fears Khashoggi was killed and dismembered there, and Saudi Arabia, which maintains the allegations it faces are “baseless” despite being unable to explain what happened to Khashoggi.
However, questions remained over how much evidence the investigators could turn up at a consulate where a cleaning crew entered hours before their arrival.
Meanwhile, President Donald Trump suggested without offering evidence that “rogue killers” may have slain Khashoggi, stepping further back from his pledge that Saudi Arabia would face “severe punishment” if it is found to be responsible for the columnist’s yet-to-be-determined fate.
The Turkish team included a prosecutor, a deputy prosecutor, anti-terror police and forensic experts, the state-run Anadolu news agency reported. Certain areas of the consulate were to remain offlimits, although officials would be able to inspect surveillance cameras within the post, Turkish media reported.