Post publishes possibly last image of missing Saudi reporter
ISTANBUL (AP) — The Washington Post published a surveillance image yesterday showing its missing Saudi contributor walking into the Saudi consulate in Istanbul a week ago, just before he disappeared. Turkish officials have said they fear the columnist was killed there.
Saudi Arabia has called the allegations that it killed writer Jamal Khashoggi as “baseless,” but has offered no evidence over the past seven days to show that he ever left the building.
The image released by the Post bore a date and time stamp, as well as a Turkish caption bearing Khashoggi’s name and that he was arriving to the consulate. The Post said “a person close to the investigation” shared the image with them, without elaborating.
The door Khashoggi walked in through appeared to be the main entrance of the consulate in Istanbul’s 4th Levent neighborhood, a leafy, upscale district near the city’s financial hub that’s home to several other consulates. However, the consulate has other entrances and exits as well, through which Saudi officials insist he left.
It’s unclear which camera the footage came from, nor who operated it. However, a number of closed-circuit surveillance cameras surround the area. Friends of Khashoggi say Turkish police have taken possession of footage from the neighborhood as part of their investigation.
The Saudis have offered no surveillance footage or evidence to corroborate their claims, nor have Turkish authorities offered proof to show why they believe the columnists was killed there.
“If the story that was told about the murder is true, the Turks must have information and videotape and other documents to back it up,” Fred Hiatt, the Post’s editorial page editor, told The
Associated Press. “If the story the Saudis are telling, that he just walked out ... after half an hour, if that’s true, they ought to have facts and documents and evidence and tapes to back that up.”