‘Evidence Khashoggi was slain in consulate
EXPLOSIVE A highlevel Turkish official says police have found ‘certain evidence’ during search of the Saudi consulate
ISTANBUL: Police who searched the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul found evidence that Saudi writer Jamal Khashoggi was killed there, a high-level Turkish official said on Tuesday, as authorities prepared to search the consul’s residence nearby after the diplomat left the country.
Security forces began setting up barricades in front of the residence just hours after consul Mohammed al-Otaibi flew out of the country on a 2pm flight, state media reported. Saudi Arabia did not immediately acknowledge the consul left the country, two weeks after Khashoggi disappeared at the diplomatic post he ran.
Meanwhile, US secretary of state Mike Pompeo smiled and shook hands during meetings in Riyadh with Saudi King Salman and his son, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, whom Khashoggi wrote critically about in The Washington Post while in self-imposed exile in America.
Saudi officials have called Turkish allegations that Saudi agents killed Khashoggi “baseless”, but reports in US media on Tuesday suggested the Saudis may acknowledge the writer was killed at the consulate, perhaps as part of a botched interrogation.
A high-level Turkish official told The Associated Press that police found evidence there of Khashoggi’s slaying, without elaborating. The official spoke on condition of anonymity as the investigation was ongoing.
Police planned a second search at the Saudi consul’s home nearby. Leaked surveillance footage show diplomatic cars travelled to the consul’s home shortly after Khashoggi’s disappearance at the consulate on October 2.
In Riyadh, Saudi foreign minister Adel al-Jubeir greeted Pompeo when he landed. The former CIA chief didn’t make any remarks to the media.
Pompeo will next hold talks in Turkey on Wednesday, the Turkish foreign ministry said.
He will meet his Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu to discuss bilateral and regional issues including Syria, the ministry said in a statement, without refering to the disappearance of Khashoggi.
Meanwhile, the bosses of some of Europe’s biggest banks and finance firms have pulled out of a high-profile investment conference in Saudi Arabia, joining a growing list of business chiefs to abandon the event amid widespread concern about the fate of Khashoggi.
The chief executives of HSBC, Standard Chartered, Credit Suisse and the London Stock Exchange , as well as the Chairman of BNP Paribas withdrew on Tuesday from the Future Investment Initiative.
The withdrawals follow earlier exits by top United States financial executives including JP Morgan CEO Jamie Dimon, and come amid mounting international pressure on Saudi Arabia.