CCTV footage released by Turkish television on Wednesday showed the moment missing Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi entered the kingdom’s consulate in Istanbul and the movements of a team suspected of involvement in his disappearance.
Khashoggi, a Washington Post contributor, vanished on October 2 after entering the consulate to obtain official documents ahead of his marriage to his Turkish fiancee.
Government sources said at the weekend that police believed Khashoggi was killed by a team specially sent to Istanbul, thought to consist of 15 Saudis.
But Riyadh insisted the 59-year-old journalist had left the building and the murder claims were “baseless”.
Turkish police were looking into two private aircraft that landed at Istanbul’s Ataturk airport on October 2 at different times carrying the individuals of interest in the case.
A Turkish security source had previously told Reuters that a group of 15 Saudi nationals, including some officials, arrived in Istanbul and entered the consulate on Oct. 2, the same day Khashoggi was there, and later left the country.
Sabah newspaper published the photos, names and years of birth of 15 Saudis it said arrived at Istanbul’s Ataturk airport on Oct. 2, Reuters reported.
Twelve of them arrived early on the Tuesday, based on photos captured at passport control which it published.
The 15 departed at four different times, Sabah reported.
One of the first images from the CCTV footage shared by 24 TV broadcaster on Wednesday showed a man believed to be Khashoggi enter the consulate at 1.14pm (1014 GMT).
Footage also showed some of the Saudis arriving in Istanbul after the first plane landed before 0030 GMT on October 2 and the men later checking into a hotel. Aksam daily said some of the men went into the Saudi consulate before Khashoggi.
According to the images, a vehicle that went inside the consulate then went to the consul-general’s residence nearby after 1200 GMT, two hours after Khashoggi had entered the mission.
Aksam newspaper’s editor-in-chief Murat Kelkitlioglu speculated on 24 TV that Khashoggi had been taken in the vehicle, adding: “It is almost certain he is in the minibus.”
Source: Turkish Media
