Turkish sources claim Maher Abdulaziz Mutreb, circled, made contact with an aide to Mohammed bin Salman, third right

The alleged leader of a 15-man killing squad made four telephone calls from the Saudi consulate in Istanbul to the crown prince’s office in the hours after Jamal Khashoggi was killed.

Turkish sources claimed yesterday that Maher Abdulaziz Mutreb, head of the alleged hit team, made the calls to the mobile phone of Bader al-Asaker, who manages the office in Riyadh of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

The claim undermines the Saudi position that the killing of the exiled critic of the Saudi regime was carried out by “rogue operatives” without the knowledge of the kingdom’s rulers.

Khashoggi is believed to have been tortured and murdered in the Saudi consulate three weeks ago when he attended a meeting to collect official papers