No remains left of Khashoggi's 'dissolved' body – report

Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi's body may be "dissolved completely" and the Turkish officials are calling for an Islamic prayer for the murdered, news website Middle East Eye reports.

Jamal Khashoggi, a Washington Post columnist critical of the Saudi government and its de facto ruler Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, was murdered at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on October 2.
AP

Jamal Khashoggi, a Washington Post columnist critical of the Saudi government and its de facto ruler Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, was murdered at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on October 2.

There may be no remains of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi's "dissolved" body and Turkish officials are calling for an Islamic prayer for the murdered, Middle East Eyeciting Turkish sources, reported on Thursday. 

The news website said the Turkish prosecutor's office has reached the conclusion after investigators found traces of acid in the Saudi consul general's residence and the drains connected to it, in Istanbul.

Earlier on Thursday Al Jazeera reported that the Turkish investigators found traces of "hydrofluoric acid and other chemicals" inside a well at the Saudi consul general's home in Istanbul.

Quoting a source in the Turkish attorney general's office, Al Jazeera said, "The killers dissolved the journalist's dismembered body in acid in one of the rooms at Mohammed al Otaibi's residence."

"It would appear, according to the source that during that two week period, acid was used to dispose of the dismembered body of Jamal Khashoggi," the Qatar-based broadcaster reported.

Khashoggi, a Washington Post columnist critical of the Saudi government and its de facto ruler Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, was murdered at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on October 2.

Family unable to grieve 

But Riyadh hasn't yet identified the location of the body, despite requests by the sons of the slain Saudi journalist who made an emotional appeal for the return of their father's body, saying they wanted to return to Saudi Arabia to bury him.

In an interview with CNN, Salah and Abdullah Khashoggi said that without their father's body, their family is unable to grieve and deal with the emotional burden of their father's death.

'Clean-up team'

On Monday, a Turkish official said Saudi Arabia sent a two-man "clean-up team" to erase evidence of Khashoggi's murder a week after he disappeared at the Saudi consulate.

The men were identified as Ahmed Abdulaziz al Jonabi and Khaled Yahya al Zahrani, with the official saying they arrived in Turkey as part of an 11-person team sent to carry out the inspections with Turkish officials.

The official said the chemist and toxicologist were tasked with erasing evidence before Turkish investigators were given access to the Saudi consulate and consul's residence. 

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