The body of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, who was killed at the Saudi Consulate in İstanbul in October, might have been burned after it was dismembered according to the İstanbul Police Department, the Anatolia news agency reported.
Khashoggi, a Washington Post contributor who wrote critically about the Saudi crown prince, was killed inside the Saudi Consulate General in İstanbul on Oct. 2. His remains still have not been found.
According to an activity report released by the İstanbul Police Department for the year 2018, there are two wells and a ground furnace, which can be ignited with wood or natural gas, at the residence of the Saudi consul general, so, if the journalist’s body parts were burned there, no traces of his DNA would remain.
The report also says Khashoggi’s fiancée Hatice Cengiz, could also be a victim of a murder attempt.
After making numerous contradictory statements about Khashoggi’s fate, Riyadh said he had been killed and his body dismembered when negotiations to persuade him to return to Saudi Arabia failed.
Turkey has previously said it was working with other countries on the Khashoggi investigation and has accused Saudi Arabia of not fully cooperating to solve the journalist’s killing.
Saudi Arabia has come under heavy international pressure over the Khashoggi assassination, including from the United States, its closest ally, whose Senate passed a resolution in which it said it “believes Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is responsible for the murder of Jamal Khashoggi.”