Forensic team ‘close’ to f inding body

TURKISH investigators believe they are ‘very close’ to finding the remains of murdered journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

As forensic teams continued to scour a forest outside Istanbul, officials suggested that the 59-year-old’s mutilated body may have been buried with the help of ‘Turkish collaborators’ linked to crime.

One Turkish official said: ‘We’ll find out what happened to the body before long.’ The development came as:

The Saudi government finally admitted that Mr Khashoggi had died inside their consulate in Istanbul on October 2 – but claimed he had done so in a fist fight;

Donald Trump sparked anger by describing the Saudi version of events as ‘credible’;

Footage emerged of the journalist and his fiancee together just hours before his death;

The vans that left the consulate – and which may have contained Mr Khashoggi’s body – tried to avoid being tracked;

Turkish investigators said that parts of the consulate showed signs of being ‘chemically cleaned’.

Yesterday, despite widespread cynicism over the Saudi account, President Trump described it as ‘credible’. Republican Senator Rand Paul rubbished the comment, saying: ‘The so-called explanation from the Saudis is not even close to credible.’

Footage of the journalist with his Turkish fiancee, Hatice Cengiz, 36, was shown on Turkish TV. It showed the couple arriving at their apartment in Istanbul at 5am on October 2 and leaving shortly afterwards.

They were captured again at 2pm as they left on the six-mile journey to the consulate.