Turkish forest searched for remains of journalist ‘butchered by Saudi Arabia’
WOODLAND was scoured in the hunt for the body of missing journalist Jamal Khashoggi yesterday.
The 60-year-old is feared to have been tortured then dismembered while still alive in Saudi Arabia’s consulate in Istanbul, Turkey.
Detectives think his remains may have been dumped in the nearby Belgrad forest.
Pressure is mounting on Saudi to come clean as Britain, France and Holland pulled out of a Riyadh trade conference later this month.
A spokesman for Trade Secretary Liam Fox said: “The UK remains concerned about Jamal Khashoggi’s disappearance.” Meanwhile, one of the alleged hitmen, Lt Meshal Saad M Albostani of the Saudi Royal Air Force, reportedly died in a “suspicious” car crash in Riyadh. Turkish investigators have finished searching the Saudi consulate and consul general’s home. They are probing claims by Turkey that there is a tape recording of Mr Khashoggi being butchered.
Saudi Arabia has branded the allegations “baseless”.