+ A
A -
Agencies
Istanbul
Saudi Arabia's consul to Istanbul on Tuesday left the Turkish city bound for Riyadh on a scheduled flight, reports said, as Turkey prepared to search his residence in the probe into the disappearance of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
Consul general Mohammed al-Otaibi took off for Riyadh on a 1400 GMT flight from Istanbul, the Haber-Turk newspaper reported on its website. The state-run Anadolu news agency also reported he had left Turkey.
The website of Ataturk International Airport showed a flight of flag-carrier Saudia took off for Riyadh at 1400 GMT and other Turkish media reports indicated he had taken this flight.
"We did not send him out. He left Turkey of his own accord,"CNN-Turk cited a Turkish foreign ministry source as saying.
The consul used the VIP exit at the airport, Haber-Turk said.
Turkish police and prosecutors searched the Saudi embassy Monday after Riyadh gave the green-light amid global uproar over Khashoggi's disappearance since October 2.
The same team were due to search the residence of al-Otaibi later on Tuesday.
The search comes as some US media said Saudi Arabia is preparing a report that admits Khashogghi died during an interrogation that went wrong. The kingdom has until now insisted the journalist left the consulate safely.
Overnight, Turkish crime scene investigators entered the consulate for the first time since Khashoggi's disappearance and searched the premises for over nine hours.
A Trump administration official said although Washington had a significant relationship with Riyadh"that doesn't mean we're in any way ignoring or downplaying this episode".
Those responsible must be held accountable, he said. In Istanbul, Turkish investigators were expanding their search to include the Saudi consul's residence and consulate vehicles, Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said.
A Turkish security source said the overnight search of the consulate had provided"strong evidence" but no conclusive proof that Khashoggi was killed in the consulate.
"However, there are some findings and they are being worked on," he said.
Despite the outcry, the case poses a dilemma for the United States, Britain and other Western nations. Saudi Arabia is the world's top oil exporter and spends lavishly on Western arms. It is also a military ally and an opponent of Iran.
Riyadh has also faced criticism from some Western politicians and human right groups over the civilian casualties its war planes have caused in the war in Yemen, in which it intervened three years ago.
Trump has threatened"severe punishment" if it turns out Khashoggi was killed in the consulate, but ruled out cancelling arms deals worth tens of billions of dollars.
