CNN releases video of alleged Khashoggi body double in Istanbul

A member of the 15-man hit team responsible for the murder of Jamal Khashoggi was captured on surveillance cameras dressed in his clothes in Istanbul on the day the journalist was killed, CNN reported on Monday.

CNN broadcast surveillance video which it said was part of the Turkish government's investigation into Khashoggi's death. It appears to show the man leaving the consulate by the back door, wearing Khashoggi's clothes, a fake beard, and glasses.

CNN reported that the same man was seen in Khashoggi's clothing at the city's Blue Mosque just hours after the journalist was last seen alive entering the consulate on October 2.

The video shows the man, still dressed in Khashoggi's attire, entering a public toilet near the Blue Mosque in Istanbul's Fatih district and then later emerging in his own clothing in an attempt to blend into crowd.

The man in the video was identified by a Turkish official, according to CNN, as Mustafa al Madani. He was part of the hit squad, sent to kill the journalist at the Saudi consulate during a scheduled appointment to get papers for his upcoming wedding.

Search for body continues

To cover up the murder, the hit squad rolled up Khashoggi's body in a rug, took it out in a consular vehicle and handed it over to a "local cooperator" for disposal, according to officials who had earlier leaked information on the case to local and international media.

Forensic expert Salah Tubaigy, who was identified as part of the 15-man hit squad, tried to remove any trace of the incident, one of the officials told Reuters.

Turkish officials have told Reuters that Khashoggi's killers may have dumped his remains in Belgrad Forest adjacent to Istanbul, and at a rural location near the city of Yalova, 90 kilometres (55 miles) south of Istanbul.

Turkish investigators are likely to find out what happened to the body "before long," a senior official said.

Riyadh had initially denied having any knowledge of Khashoggi's fate, saying he left the building alive.

More than two weeks after the disappearance,  Saudi state media reported that preliminary results of investigations showed Khashoggi died in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul after a fight with people he met there.

Some Saudi officials, had also given varying versions of the incident, according to which Khashoggi died as a result of a fist fight or a chokehold during a botched interrogation process.

These versions differed from the official Saudi narrative but were more in line with what was suggested by the leaks from Turkish security officials to local and international media.

The Kingdom later changed its narrative and said that the journalist had been killed and his "murder" was a "tremendous mistake," that was carried out by individuals acting "out of the scope of their authority."