Turkish police probe Saudi consul’s fireplace amid search for Khashoggi’s body

ISTANBUL

Turkish police have detected that a fireplace in the residence of Saudi Arabia’s consul general was thoroughly cleaned after the disappearance of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. 

Citing latest findings in the search for the slain Saudi dissident, daily Vatan reported Oct. 29 that police found clues in the chimney that the fireplace was recently used, despite an apparent attempt to clean it.

Police were suspicious about not finding even a fingerprint in the room of Saudi consul general Mohammad al-Otaibi, who had left Turkey after the killing.

According to the report, samples taken from the chimney were sent to a criminal laboratory.

The report added that Khashoggi’s iPhone, which he left with his fiancée who waited for him in front of the consulate, could not be probed as it was locked due to repeated attempts to turn it on with the wrong password.

Khashoggi, a columnist for The Washington Post, had gone missing after entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on Oct. 2.

After a weeks-long denial, Saudi Arabia admitted on Oct. 25 that he fell victim to a premeditated killing in the building and said it arrested all members of the 15-man group, as well as three others, linked to the murder.

As the whereabouts of the body remain unknown, Turkish police focused on the consul general’s house.

They were not initially allowed to search the garden and well of Saudi Arabia’s consulate, but took water samples from the well and are analyzing the water content, which produced no results so far.

Robotic cameras were also inserted into a sewer line on the street on Oct. 26 and forensics analyses were being awaited on Oct. 29.