Dubai: Saudi Arabia said that it was coordinating with the Turkish authorities to help unveil the mystery that has shrouded the disappearance of a Saudi citizen in Istanbul.
The whereabouts of Jamal Khashoggi have been unknown since Tuesday after he entered the Saudi consulate general for a document he needed in order to marry his Turkish fiancée Hatice (Khadija).
The fiancée said he never came out of the diplomatic mission building while Saudi authorities insisted he left the consulate, a two-storey building on a leafy side street.
“The Consulate General of Saudi Arabia in Istanbul said it was following up on the media reports of the disappearance of Saudi citizen Jamal Khashoggi after he left the building of the Saudi consulate in Istanbul,” a statement carried by Saudi Press Agency on Thursday said.
“The consulate stressed it was following up and coordinating with the sisterly Turkish authorities in order to uncover the circumstances of the disappearance of Saudi citizen Jamal Khashoggi after leaving the consulate.”
Khashoggi, 59, is a media figure who was editor in chief of Saudi dailies, the general manger of a short-lived pan-Arab television station and a contributor to a US daily.
