Saudi Arabia ‘would welcome’ Turkish search for writer in Istanbul consulate

Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said he would let Turkey search Saudi Arabia’s consulate in Istanbul after the disappearance last week of prominent Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi after he entered the mission.

Prince Mohammed said the kingdom was “keen to know what happened to him” and that an investigation had been launched into his whereabouts.

Ankara and Riyadh have given contradictory versions of Khashoggi’s disappearance, with Turkish officials saying they believed he was still inside the consulate.

“My understanding is he entered and he got out after a few minutes or one hour,” Prince Mohammed told Bloomberg in Riyadh on Wednesday. “We are ready to welcome the Turkish government to go and search our premises.

“The premises are sovereign territory, but we will allow them to enter and search and do whatever they want to do. If they ask for that, of course, we will allow them. We have nothing to hide.”

On Friday supporters rallied outside the Saudi consulate in the Besiktas district calling for Mr Khashoggi’s “release” despite Riyadh denying he was being held there.

Khashoggi has lived in self-imposed exile in the US since last year to avoid possible arrest.

Human rights groups want Saudi Arabia to verify the writer’s whereabouts. The Washington Post,

which has regularly featured Khashoggi’s writing, published a blank space where his column would normally be.