Turkish police searching for Jamal Khashoggi’s body found traces of hydrofluoric acid in a well at the Saudi consul general’s home in Istanbul, it was reported today.
The journalist’s body was dissolved in acid inside the house and disposed of in the garden well, a Turkish source told Al-Jazeera.
Turkish forensic officers made the grim discovery when they searched the residence two weeks after Khashoggi was killed on October 2, the source said. Officially, the whereabouts of his body is still unknown.
Turkish police searching for Jamal Khashoggi’s body found traces of hydrofluoric acid in a well at the Saudi consul general’s home (pictured) in Istanbul, it was reported today
Forensic officers made the grim discovery when they searched the residence two weeks after Khashoggi (pictured on a holiday) was killed on October 2, the source said
Turkish forensic police officers arrive the residence of the Saudi consul for investigation in Istanbul, Turkey, 17 October 2018
It comes after Turkish media claimed on Tuesday that Saudi consulate staff tried to dismantle CCTV equipment at their Istanbul compound to help cover up Khashoggi’s murder.
Workers attempted to tear out a security camera inside the consulate on the day the writer walked in and was killed, according to reports in Turkey.
Attempts were also made at tampering with a video system in the police security booth outside the complex days later, it is claimed.
According to Turkey’s pro-government Sabah newspaper, a member of staff at the consulate went to access the police security video system at 1am on October 6.
Sabah said the same individual entered a digital lock code into the system to block access to footage showing movements at the entrance – including the moment Khashoggi arrived at the consulate.
Khashoggi (pictured), a Washington Post columnist critical of the Saudi government, disappeared at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on October 2
However, Al Jazeera reported that police had already deciphered codes and accessed the system before the attempted tampering allegedly took place.
Meanwhile, Turkey’s foreign minister has claimed a 15-man Saudi team that flew to Turkey before the killing of Jamal Khashoggi must have been acting on orders.
Speaking to reporters in Tokyo, Mevlut Cavusoglu added that it was Saudi Arabia’s responsibility to tell Turkey what happened to the Khashoggi’s body, according to Anadolu news agency.
But he reiterated Ankara’s stance that the directions had not come from King Salman.
Khashoggi, a Washington Post columnist critical of the Saudi government and its de facto ruler Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, disappeared at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on October 2.
Saudi consulate staff tried to dismantle CCTV cameras in their Istanbul compound to help cover up the murder of Jamal Khashoggi, Turkish media have claimed. The tough critic of the Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is pictured entering the Saudi consulate (pictured) in Istanbul on October 2 to collect a document for his upcoming marriage