A doctor suspected of killing and dismembering dissident Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi trained at the Victorian Institute of Forensic Medicine in Melbourne after being sponsored by the Saudi Government.

Key points: Authorities suspect Khashoggi was murdered in Istanbul on October 2 by a team who travelled from Saudi Arabia

Authorities suspect Khashoggi was murdered in Istanbul on October 2 by a team who travelled from Saudi Arabia Tubaigy was reportedly carrying a bone saw when he flew in and out of Istanbul

Tubaigy was reportedly carrying a bone saw when he flew in and out of Istanbul ABC confirmed Tubaigy spent several months at Melbourne institute as forensic pathologist

Dr Salah al-Tubaigy was identified by Turkish authorities as one of 15 men present in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on October 2, when Khashoggi is suspected to have been assassinated.

Turkish authorities suspect Khashoggi was murdered inside the consulate after being ambushed by a team travelling from Saudi Arabia.

Dr Tubaigy was carrying a bone saw when he flew in and out of Istanbul, authorities said.

The ABC has confirmed Dr Tubaigy spent three months at the institute as a forensic pathologist from June 2015.

Tubaigy now has senior role in Saudi Government

Dr Tubaigy was the head of Saudi Arabia's forensic medicine corporation at the time of his visit to Australia, according to the institute's 2015 annual report. He now holds a senior position in the Saudi interior ministry.

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His ties to the Government are expected to be of particular interest to Turkish authorities investigating the extent of the suspected plot to kill the journalist.

Sorry, this video has expired Turkish officials say they fear a Saudi assassination team killed Khashoggi.

And his suspected involvement could undermine an alternative explanation for Khashoggi's death: that he was accidentally killed during an interrogation gone wrong.

Professor Noel Woodford, the director of the institute, said Dr Tubaigy did not perform autopsies or any forensic procedure, and the entire costs of his international placement were paid by the Saudi Government. The institute did not profit from the placement.

Suspect 'interested in victim identification'

Dr Tubaigy told the institute he was particularly interested in mass disaster victim identification as he was responsible for the supervision of the annual Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca, Professor Woodford said.

Dr Tubaigy also had an interest in autopsies, according to reviews of his published works.

Professor Woodford did not know Dr Tubaigy personally, and the institute's director of international programs, Dr Liz Manning, declined to comment.

Dr James Kalougivaki, the head of the Fiji Police forensic pathology unit, studied at the institute at the same time as Dr Tubaigy.

He said he had little contact with Dr Tubaigy, but was shocked to learn he had been implicated in the Khasoggi case.

"Whoa, I mean I didn't really know the guy, but we were in the same building together," he said.

"It would be good to know the background of people in the same building as you."

Other international doctors who trained at the institute at the same time as Dr Tubaigy could not be reached for comment.

Dr James Kalougivaki (far left) and Dr Salah al-Tubaigy (far right) are seen among other forensic pathologists during a placement. ( Supplied )

They included another Saudi, Dr Mohammed Madadin, who trained for 12 months at the institute, and was also sponsored by the Saudi Government.

He had work published in an Egyptian medical journal with Dr Tubaigy in 2011.

He has not been linked in any way to the disappearance of Khashoggi.

Dr Kalougivaki spent more time with Dr Madadin, who he said was friendlier that Dr Tubaigy. The Saudi pair seemed to spend time together socially, but he never saw either man outside the institute, Dr Kalougivaki said.

Tubaigy 'observed autopsies' in Australia

Dr Stephen Cordner, the former director of the institute, told ABC Radio Melbourne Dr Tubaigy spent his training program learning how to more effectively manage and identify victims of disasters.

He was the "senior forensic doctor in Saudi Arabia" at the time.

"As part of his responsibilities he told us he was responsible for dealing with disasters, in particular the semi-regular disasters that occur at Mecca during the Hajj," he said.

"One of his responsibilities was dealing with that and managing the dead and helping to identify them and that's a space we've been involved in quite a lot in the last decade.

"He didn't do any autopsies. He wasn't entitled or registered sufficiently to actually undertake an autopsy. But he did observe autopsies, he attended meetings we had of an academic kind in the building and so he was really he really just attended things that happened in the building."

Dr Cordner did not comment on what Dr Tubaigy was like during his time in Australia.

He did not want to speculate about Dr Tubaigy's intentions or actions but said the situation was "awful" and that some doctors betrayed their membership of humanity and their membership of a noble profession.

He said the institute had taken a "generous" approach to people who wished to study there, regardless of the country they came from.

"Around the world forensic doctors attend police interrogations might even take part in supervising that interrogation, may even be asked by interrogators whether they can do particular things, with whatever consequences," he said.

"They might even be involved in torture. And they might even be involved in worse.

"So that's the sort of things some doctors have done."

The case has drawn international condemnation, and led to questions about the rule of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, and whether he sanctioned the assassination.

Khashoggi, a columnist for The Washington Post, was an outspoken critic of the prince.