Putin Says to Wait for Details on Khashoggi Case
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – President Vladimir Putin said Russia did not have enough information about the unexplained disappearance of a Saudi journalist to justify spoiling ties with Riyadh.
Putin told a discussion forum in the Black Sea resort of Sochi on Thursday that Moscow did not really know what had happened in the case, that it was a pity that the journalist had gone missing, and that Russia would wait for details, Reuters reported.
Khashoggi, a US resident, Washington Post columnist and leading critic of Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman, vanished after entering the consulate to get marriage documents. Turkish officials say they believe he was murdered there and his body removed.
Turkish authorities have an audio recording indicating that Khashoggi was killed in the consulate, a Turkish official and a security source said, and have shared evidence with countries including Saudi Arabia and the United States.
Some 10 Turkish investigators left the consulate before 5 am (0200 GMT), and a Turkish prosecutor departed around 1-1/2 hours later, followed shortly after by a Saudi team, witnesses said.
Forensic vehicles took away soil samples as well as a metal door from the garden, a witness said. A police dog was part of the search team.
“The Turkish crime scene investigators carried out searches in the consulate and took the things deemed necessary,” a senior Turkish official said, after earlier acknowledging the difficulty of collecting evidence 13 days after the incident.
