Khashoggi case: Istanbul police search Saudi consul's residence

Turkish police on Wednesday began a search at the residence of the Saudi consul to Istanbul, in the investigation into the disappearance of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

A team of a dozen police and prosecutors, including forensics experts in white overalls, entered the residence of Mohammed al-Otaibi, a day after he flew out of Istanbul for Riyadh, an AFP correspondent reported.

Earlier in the day, a Saudi delegation had also arrived at the building to take part in what is presented as a joint search with their Turkish counterparts.

Turkish police had on Monday searched the consulate building itself for over eight hours, taking away soil and DNA samples for further examination.

Khashoggi, a former regime insider who became critical of Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, wrote articles for titles including the Washington Post. He has not been seen since he stepped inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on 2 October.

Turkish officials have said they believe he was killed there although this has not been confirmed by Saudi Arabia. 

Comment: The full story of why MbS might have wanted Jamal Khashoggi dead

Al-Otaibi left for Riyadh on a scheduled Saudia flight on Tuesday afternoon, with Ankara insisting he had not been expelled.

On Wednesday, grim details emerged of the alleged fate of Khashoggi inside the consulate. According to a Turkish daily newspaper, which claimed it had obtained tapes from the consulate, Khashoggi was tortured and had his fingers cut off during interrogation and then decapitated.

Turkish authorities say he was killed by a special team of 15 Saudi officials that flew into Istanbul and left the day Khashoggi arrived at the consulate. Washington Post late on Tuesday published passport scans of the suspects allegedly involved in the journalist's killing, while another report detailed close links between the suspects and the powerful crown prince accused of ordering the murder.