US gives Riyadh a 'few more days'

The United States yesterday gave Saudi Arabia more time to investigate the disappearance of journalist Jamal Khashoggi as Turkish investigators searched Riyadh's consulate in Istanbul for a second time in a hunt for clues.

US President Donald Trump met for less than an hour with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who gave the president an update on his talks this week with Saudi and Turkish officials about the Khashoggi case amid concern that the journalist was killed in the consulate after entering it on Oct 2.

Pompeo told reporters after his talks with Trump that he made clear to the Saudis in his visit to Riyadh that "we take this matter with respect to Mr Khashoggi very seriously."

Pompeo said he told Trump that "we ought to give them a few more days to complete" their investigation in order to get a full understanding of what happened "at which point we can make decisions about how - or if - the United States should respond to the incident surrounding Mr Khashoggi."

"I think it's important for us all to remember to, we have a long - since 1932 - a long strategic relationship with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia," Pompeo added.

Turkish officials have said they believe Khashoggi - a US resident and Washington Post columnist who was a strong critic of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman - was murdered at the consulate and his body chopped up and removed.

Turkish investigators left the Saudi consulate in Istanbul early yesterday after searching the building and consular vehicles, a Reuters witness said. They used bright lights to illuminate the garden. Earlier, they spent nearly nine hours in the Saudi consul's residence along with Saudi investigators.

The Turkish search, which used a drone, included the roof and garage.

Khashoggi had gone to the consulate seeking documents for his planned upcoming marriage and has not been seen since. Saudi Arabia has denied involvement in the disappearance.

Neither Turkey nor the United States have publicly confirmed he is dead or said that Riyadh is to blame.

But with a steady stream of sometimes macabre claims leaked to the Turkish press, Riyadh is under increasing pressure to explain what happened to Khashoggi.

The pro-government Sabah newspaper yesterday said Saudi security official Maher Abdulaziz Mutreb was the leader of the alleged 15-member hit team that entered Turkey on October 2, the day Khashoggi went missing. He has been previously photographed close to the crown prince.

Giving precise times based on CCTV footage, the newspaper reported that Mutreb went into the consulate more than three hours before Khashoggi entered the building.

In a series of CCTV images, Mutreb was then seen outside the consul's residence, then later at his hotel near the Saudi mission with a "large suitcase", and finally at the airport in the early evening.

The pro-government Yeni Safak newspaper on Wednesday claimed it had heard audio tapes in which Khashoggi's alleged killers tortured him by cutting his fingers off before his decapitation.