Two Saudis sent to Istanbul to 'cover up' Khashoggi murder: Turkish official

Two Saudis sent to Istanbul to 'cover up' Khashoggi murder: Turkish official

Istanbul: Saudi Arabia sent a toxicologist and a chemicals expert to Istanbul to cover up the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi before the Turkish police searched the kingdom's consulate, a senior Turkish official said.

"We believe that the two individuals came to Turkey for the sole purpose of covering up evidence of Jamal Khashoggi's murder before the Turkish police were allowed to search the premises," the official said on condition of anonymity.

The official confirmed a report in the Sabah newspaper, which said that chemicals expert Ahmad Abdulaziz al-Janobi and toxicology expert Khaled Yahya al-Zahrani were among a team sent from Saudi Arabia purportedly to investigate the murder last month.

The report said they visited the consulate every day from their arrival on October 11 until October 17. Khashoggi was murdered inside the consulate on October 2, Turkey has said, but Saudi Arabia only allowed Turkish police to finally search the consulate on October 15.

APP/AFP