Turkey says missing journalist Jamal Khashoggi was murdered in Saudi consulate

Turkish police believe prominent Saudi journalist and critic Jamal Khashoggi was murdered inside Saudi Arabia's consulate in Istanbul after he went missing on Tuesday, according to an unnamed government official, but Riyadh quickly denied the claim.

The accusation by Turkish authorities comes amid mounting concern over the Washington Post contributor, who vanished after an appointment with Saudi officials.

“Based on their initial findings, the police believe that the journalist was killed by a team especially sent to Istanbul and who left the same day,” the government source told AFP on Saturday.

Police had earlier confirmed that around 15 Saudis, including officials, arrived in Istanbul on two flights on Tuesday and were at the consulate at the same time as Khashoggi. The journalist went to the building on an administrative errand but “did not come back out”, police told Turkey's state-run Anadolu news agency.

According to his fiancee, Khashoggi had visited the consulate to receive an official document for their marriage.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Sunday said he was awaiting the results of an investigation into the disappearance of a Saudi journalist, after a government source said officials believed he had been killed inside Saudi Arabia's Istanbul consulate.

“I am following the (issue) and we will inform the world whatever the outcome” of the official probe, Erdogan said, following the disappearance of Jamal Khashoggi, a critic of Riyadh and a Washington Post contributor, who has not been since since he visited the consulate on Tuesday.

- AFP