This article is from the source 'bbc' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-45731341
The article has changed 6 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
Version 0 | Version 1 |
---|---|
Jamal Khashoggi, Saudi journalist, vanishes in Istanbul | |
(about 1 hour later) | |
A prominent Saudi journalist known as a fierce critic of his country's policies has vanished after visiting a Saudi consulate in Turkey. | A prominent Saudi journalist known as a fierce critic of his country's policies has vanished after visiting a Saudi consulate in Turkey. |
Jamal Khashoggi, a contributor to the Washington Post, entered the consulate in Istanbul on Tuesday afternoon. | Jamal Khashoggi, a contributor to the Washington Post, entered the consulate in Istanbul on Tuesday afternoon. |
Khashoggi went to complete "routine paperwork", the Post said, and has not been heard from since. | Khashoggi went to complete "routine paperwork", the Post said, and has not been heard from since. |
"We don't know if he is being detained, questioned or when he will be released," the newspaper said. | "We don't know if he is being detained, questioned or when he will be released," the newspaper said. |
His fiancée accompanied him to the consulate but was not allowed to go inside with him. Khashoggi was also required to surrender his mobile phone - which is standard practice in some embassies and consulates. | His fiancée accompanied him to the consulate but was not allowed to go inside with him. Khashoggi was also required to surrender his mobile phone - which is standard practice in some embassies and consulates. |
Police alerted | |
Khashoggi was in the consulate to acquire the necessary paperwork for a marriage licence, reports said. | |
His fiancée said she had waited outside the consulate until it closed, by which time Khashoggi had not returned. | |
"I don't know what's happening. I don't know if he's inside or if they took him somewhere else," she told Reuters. | |
Another friend, Turan Kislakci, told the Washington Post that police were alerted and that by midnight there was still no sign of Khashoggi. | |
"I think 100% that he is inside," he said. | "I think 100% that he is inside," he said. |
In the absence of any reliable information about his disappearance, a notification on Khashoggi's website now declares: "Jamal has been arrested!" | In the absence of any reliable information about his disappearance, a notification on Khashoggi's website now declares: "Jamal has been arrested!" |
Qatar-based news outlet Al-Jazeera reports that Turkish police have begun a search for the missing writer. | Qatar-based news outlet Al-Jazeera reports that Turkish police have begun a search for the missing writer. |
Ties between Turkey and Saudi Arabia have been strained in the past year by a dispute over Qatar. | |
Turkey shipped food and basic goods to Qatar after Saudi Arabia and several other Arab states severed economic and diplomatic links with the emirate, accusing it of supporting terrorism. | |
Sharp criticism | Sharp criticism |
Khashoggi has been living in self-imposed exile in the United States, and is an established critic of the Saudi government - particularly the reform plans championed by Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman. | Khashoggi has been living in self-imposed exile in the United States, and is an established critic of the Saudi government - particularly the reform plans championed by Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman. |
"With every supposed reform comes a wave of fresh arrests, prison sentences and increasingly repressive behaviour," the Post's Jason Rezaian said. | "With every supposed reform comes a wave of fresh arrests, prison sentences and increasingly repressive behaviour," the Post's Jason Rezaian said. |
"At each turning point, though, Jamal has offered readers of the Post insightful commentary and sharp criticism about the seemingly impenetrable country." | "At each turning point, though, Jamal has offered readers of the Post insightful commentary and sharp criticism about the seemingly impenetrable country." |
Formerly an editor of the Al-Watan newspaper and of a short-lived Saudi TV news channel, Khashoggi has also been a contributor to BBC programmes about Saudi Arabia and the Middle East. | Formerly an editor of the Al-Watan newspaper and of a short-lived Saudi TV news channel, Khashoggi has also been a contributor to BBC programmes about Saudi Arabia and the Middle East. |
At times, he served as an adviser to the Saudi royal family, and was for many years seen as an insider - until he left more than a year ago amid a reported clampdown on press freedom. | |
He is also known for his close association with the young Osama Bin Laden, with whom he travelled extensively in Afghanistan in the 1980s during the Soviet occupation - though he publicly rejected Bin Laden's later ideologies and had fallen out of touch long before the 2001 attacks on the US. |