A man reads the Sabah newspaper, with a headline that reads "15-member assassination squad " in Ankara, Turkey, Wednesday, Oct. 10, 2018. Sabah on Wednesday revealed the identities of what it called a... (Associated Press) 
 
 ISTANBUL (AP) — Turkish media close to the president published images Wednesday of what it described as a 15-member "assassination squad" allegedly sent to target Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, and of a black van later traveling from the Saudi consulate, where he went missing, to the consul's home. 
 
 The release of the photographs and video raises pressure on Saudi Arabia after Khashoggi disappeared Oct. 2 during a visit to the consulate. Turkish officials fear that the team killed the writer, who was critical of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. 
 
 The kingdom has called the allegations "baseless," but has not provided any evidence that Khashoggi left the consulate and did not respond to requests for comment Wednesday. 
 
 State-run broadcaster TRT aired video purportedly showing the Saudis arriving by private jet and then leaving a hotel. The footage shows Khashoggi entering the consulate. An hour and 54 minutes later, according to the time stamp, a black Mercedes Vito with diplomatic license plates, which resembled a van parked outside of the consulate when the writer walked in, drives some 2 kilometers (1.2 miles) to the consul's home, where it parks inside a garage. 
 
 The footage all seemed to come from surveillance cameras, which would have been posted throughout the district housing the Saudi consulate and other diplomatic missions. No one has produced any such footage of Khashoggi leaving the consulate. 
 
 The Sabah newspaper, which is close to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, published images of what it referred to as the "assassination squad" apparently taken at passport control. It said they checked into two hotels in Istanbul on Oct. 2 and left later that day. 
 
 Khashoggi had written a series of columns for the Washington Post that were critical of Saudi Arabia's assertive Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who has led a widely publicized drive to reform the Sunni monarchy but has also presided over the arrests of activists and businessmen. 
 
 Erdogan has not accused Saudi Arabia of being responsible for Khashoggi's disappearance but has said that if the Saudis have footage of him leaving the consulate they should release it. Saudi Arabia is a major investor in Turkey, despite Ankara's support for the Gulf nation of Qatar, which is under a blockade led by Saudi Arabia and three other Arab nations. 
 
 Police and investigators in Turkey typically release video and information through state-run or otherwise government-friendly media outlets, as opposed to holding briefings like those common in Western nations. 
 
 On Wednesday, the Post published a column by Khashoggi's fiancée, Hatice Cengiz. She acknowledged the writer first visited the consulate on Sept. 28 "despite being somewhat concerned that he could be in danger." He later returned Oct. 2 after being promised needed paperwork so the two could be married. 
 
 A surveillance video image surfaced Tuesday showing Khashoggi walking into the consulate in Istanbul's upscale 4th Levent neighborhood. No evidence of him leaving the consulate has been made public, but Turkish officials also have yet to provide evidence he was kidnapped or killed. 
 
 "At this time, I implore President Trump and first lady Melania Trump to help shed light on Jamal's disappearance," Cengiz wrote. "I also urge Saudi Arabia, especially King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, to show the same level of sensitivity and release CCTV footage from the consulate." 
 
 She added: "Although this incident could potentially fuel a political crisis between the two nations, let us not lose sight of the human aspect of what happened." 
 
 Khashoggi had sought to become a U.S. citizen after living in self-imposed exile since last year, fearing repercussions for his criticism of the prince, Cengiz wrote. 
 
 Trump, who took his first overseas trip as U.S. president to the kingdom and whose son-in-law Jared Kushner has close ties to Prince Mohammed, said Tuesday he had not yet talked to the Saudis about Khashoggi, "but I will be at some point," without elaborating. 
 
 Turkish Foreign Ministry spokesman Hami Aksoy said Tuesday that Saudi authorities have notified Ankara that they were "open to cooperation" and would allow the consulate building to be searched. It's unclear when such a search would take place. 
 
 Embassies and consulates under the Vienna Convention are technically foreign soil and must be protected by host nations. Saudi Arabia may have agreed to the search in order to reassure its Western allies and the international community. 
 
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 Fraser reported from Ankara, Turkey, and Gambrell reported from Dubai, United Arab Emirates. ||||| Security camera footage was removed from the Saudi consulate in Istanbul and Turkish staff were abruptly told to take a holiday on the day the dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi disappeared while inside the building, Turkish authorities have claimed. 
 
 A week after Khashoggi vanished in the heart of Turkey’s biggest city, details of the investigation into his disappearance continued to point towards Riyadh having ordered Khashoggi’s seizure. 
 
 Profile Jamal Khashoggi Show Hide Jamal Khashoggi is one of the Arab world’s most prominent journalists and commentators. He is an outspoken critic of Saudi Arabia who has dared to defy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the kingdom’s de facto ruler. While living in Saudi Arabia, Khashoggi was told to stop writing or posting on Twitter, where he has more than 1.6 million followers. He moved to the US more than a year ago, where he continued to comment on his country both in print and on television. He wrote columns for the Washington Post and the Guardian. 
 
 His message struck a nuanced tone in the US, where he tried to acknowledge the reforms undertaken by Bin Salman while also highlighting the flaws. Khashoggi previously had close links with the Saudi royal family, including having served as a media aide to Prince Turki al-Faisal, when the latter was director general of the Saudi intelligence agency. He is also a former editor of the Saudi newspaper al-Watan and had worked with Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, a grandson of the first Saudi king who was detained last year as part of what the authorities said was an anti-corruption campaign. Photograph: Virginia Mayo/AP 
 
 Investigators believe the squad responsible for his disappearance from the Saudi consulate spent several hours at the nearby consul general’s house before leaving for the airport in a convoy of six cars, one of which is thought to have carried the missing dissident or his body. 
 
 A still-frame image emerged on Tuesday of Khashoggi striding towards the diplomatic mission before he disappeared. The black van that was allegedly used later to smuggle him away was parked next to the front door. 
 
 Details of the planes used to fly 15 Saudi officials from Riyadh to Istanbul have also been confirmed. Two corporate jets rented from a company frequently used by the Saudi government arrived in Istanbul on 2 October and left separately the same evening. One jet, with the tail registration HZ-SK1, left for Cairo, and the second, HZ-SK2, flew to Dubai. Flight tracking records show they both later continued to Riyadh. Turkish investigators believe the CCTV footage from inside the consulate was onboard. 
 
 A Turkish police team entered the consulate building on Tuesday after being given access by Saudi officials. Journalists had been allowed into the building on Saturday. 
 
 However, despite a circumstantial case being established that blames Saudi Arabia for Khashoggi’s abduction, there were signs that Turkish officials were unwilling to further incriminate the kingdom, with which Turkey has lucrative trade ties and attempts to maintain a delicate regional relationship. 
 
 Political leaders have not delivered on pledges to supply video footage that purports to show heavy bags being carried from the consul gate to the waiting cars. Officials who had offered glimpses into the investigation for the past week were no longer prepared to talk. 
 
 Yasin Aktay, an adviser to the Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, claimed “the Saudi state is not blamed here”, a marked shift in rhetoric that had earlier called for the kingdom to explain what had happened. 
 
 “We have our own problems with a deep state,” he told al-Araby in an interview. Earlier, Aktay had pointedly claimed that Khashoggi had been murdered by people sent from Riyadh. 
 
 In a further sign of an apparent climbdown, the pro-government newspaper Daily Sabah suggested that the focus of the investigation had moved towards the possibility that Khashoggi was smuggled alive on to one of the planes. Turkish officials had been adamant that the journalist was killed inside the consulate; a claim they repeated to US authorities who began asking questions about Khashoggi’s disappearance at the weekend. 
 
 Privately, senior officials have told counterparts in the US and Europe that they still believe Khashoggi was killed, but that political leaders are willing to make a climbdown for Riyadh in return for concessions. 
 
 The spectre of a political dimension to the investigation has raised the prospect that evidence that could establish Khashoggi’s fate may never be disclosed. 
 
 The disappearance of the acclaimed columnist and senior adviser to previous Saudi regimes has rocked Washington, where he had been based for the past year as a columnist for the Washington Post, and struck fear through establishment circles in Riyadh, where the 59-year-old had been a popular figure. He was one of the few public intellectuals to openly critique the new administration of the crown prince, and heir to the throne, Mohammed bin Salman. 
 
 On Tuesday, his fiancee, Hatice Cengiz, used an opinion piece for the newspaper to appeal to Donald Trump for help “shed light” on the disappearance. “I also urge Saudi Arabia, especially King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, to show the same level of sensitivity and release CCTV footage from the consulate,” Cengiz wrote. 
 
 Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi criticised the regime – and paid with his life | David Hearst Read more 
 
 Erdoğan, who is returning from a visit to Budapest, has insisted he is personally interested in the case and has demanded a transparent inquiry. US officials told the Guardian that Turkey had earlier put the evidence it had gathered directly to Saudi officials and had authorised a series of state-sanctioned leaks intended to pressure Riyadh when those officials had refused to respond. 
 
 The change in tone from Ankara would suggest that attitudes had also shifted in Riyadh, which has strenuously denied any role in Khashoggi’s disappearance and insisted he walked freely from the consulate, which he had attended to sign divorce papers to allow him to marry his Turkish fiancée. 
 
 “The Turks need to continue to be transparent about this,” a senior US official told the Guardian. “They have the Saudis in a delicate position here and know more than they’re letting on. This matters to the current administration. This guy can’t be allowed to vanish.” 
 
 Britain, France and the EU have also called for an urgent, credible investigation.
– A growing amount of evidence points toward Washington Post contributor Jamal Khashoggi having been brutally murdered and dismembered inside Saudi Arabia's Istanbul consulate, officials say. A senior official tells the New York Times that a team of 15 Saudi agents arrived on charter planes the day Khashoggi vanished, including an autopsy expert suspected of having dismembered the Saudi journalist with a bone saw inside the consulate, which he had visited to obtain marriage paperwork. "It is like Pulp Fiction," the official says. The AP reports that Turkish media have released images of the alleged "assassination squad." One pro-Turkish government newspaper, however, suggests that Khashoggi may have been smuggled out of the country alive. State-run Turkish broadcaster TRT also aired video of a black van leaving the consulate around two hours after Khashoggi arrived and traveling to the consul general's home 1.2 miles away. Investigators believe that the 15 agents spent several hours at the home before traveling to the airport in a convoy of six cars, one of which allegedly carried Khashoggi's remains, the Guardian reports. They left Turkey the same day they arrived, and investigators believed they may have taken CCTV footage from the embassy with them. Saudi officials, who insist that Khashoggi left their consulate without incident, have said they will allow Turkish police to search the building.