Turkish officials believe Saudi journalist killed

The writer, who had been critical of prince, disappeared while at consulate in Istanbul.

ISTANBUL, Turkey — Turkish investigators believe a prominent Saudi journalist who contributed to the Washington Post was killed in “a preplanned murder” at the kingdom’s consulate in Istanbul, the Post reported Saturday night, citing two anonymous officials. Saudi authorities had no immediate comment, though they’ve insisted that the writer left their diplomatic post.

One Turkish official also told the Associated Press that detectives’ “initial assessment” was that Jamal Khashoggi was killed at the consulate. The official did not elaborate.

Khashoggi, 59, who has lived in self-imposed exile in the U.S. for the last year, vanished Tuesday while on a visit to the consulate. His disappearance has threatened to upend already-fraught relations between Saudi Arabia and Turkey, and it raises new questions about the kingdom and the actions of its assertive Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, whom Khashoggi wrote critically about in his columns.

“If the reports of Jamal’s murder are true, it is a monstrous and unfathomable act,” the Post’s editorial page editor Fred Hiatt said in a statement. “Jamal was — or, as we hope, is — a committed, courageous journalist. He writes out of a sense of love for his country and deep faith in human dignity and freedom.”

The Post cited one anonymous official who said investigators believe a 15member team “came from Saudi Arabia.” The official added: “It was a preplanned murder.”

A Turkish official, requesting anonymity to discuss the investigation, told the Associated Press earlier Saturday night something similar.

“The initial assessment of the Turkish police is that Mr. Khashoggi has been killed at the consulate of Saudi Arabia in Istanbul,” the official said. “We believe that the murder was premeditated and the body was subsequently moved out of the consulate.”

Khashoggi went missing while on a visit to the consulate in Istanbul for paperwork to marry his Turkish fiancee. Turkey’s official Anadolu news agency said Saturday that the Istanbul public prosecutor’s office began a probe into Khashoggi’s disappearance Tuesday, immediately after he went missing.