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Video shows 'body double' exiting Saudi Consulate wearing Khashoggi's clothes after killing

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Show more The man, seen outside the Saudi consulate, appears to be wearing Jamal Khashoggi's clothes 0:41

A man appearing to wear Jamal Khashoggi's clothes left the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul after the journalist was killed there, according to surveillance video, while a member of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's entourage reportedly made four calls to the prince's office around the same time.

The reports by CNN and a pro-government Turkish newspaper came just a day before Prince Mohammed's high-profile investment summit is to begin in Riyadh, and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has promised that details of Khashoggi's killing "will be revealed in all its nakedness."

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That yet again adds to the pressure Saudi Arabia faces over the slaying of the Washington Post columnist and U.S. permanent resident. The kingdom's claim on Saturday that Khashoggi died in a "fistfight" met international skepticism and allegations of a coverup to absolve the 33-year-old crown prince of direct responsibility.

Turkish media reports and officials maintain that a 15-member Saudi team flew to Istanbul on Oct. 2, knowing Khashoggi would arrive for a document he needed to get married. Once he was inside the diplomatic mission, the Saudis accosted Khashoggi, cut off his fingers, and killed and dismembered the 59-year-old writer.

In this image made from a March video, Jamal Khashoggi speaks during an interview at an undisclosed location. Eighteen days after his disappearance, Saudi Arabia acknowledged that Khashoggi was killed at its Istanbul Consulate. (Metafora Production via/Associated Press)

CNN aired surveillance footage on Monday showing the man in Khashoggi's dress shirt, suit jacket and pants. It cited a Turkish official as describing the man as a "body double" and a member of the Saudi team sent to Istanbul to target the writer. The man is seen in the footage walking out of the consulate via its back exit with an accomplice, then taking a taxi to Istanbul's famed Sultan Ahmed Mosque, where he went into a public bathroom, changed back out of the clothes and left.

The state-run broadcaster TRT later also reported that a man who entered the consulate building was seen leaving the building in Khashoggi's clothes.

In the days after Khashoggi vanished, Saudi officials initially said that he had left the consulate, implying premeditation on the part of the Saudi team.

"After Turkish authorities and the media were allowed to inspect the consulate building in its entirety, the accusations changed to the outrageous claim that he was murdered, in the consulate, during business hours, and with dozens of staff and visitors in the building," Saudi Ambassador to the U.S. Prince Khalid bin Salman, a brother of the crown prince, wrote on Oct. 8. "I don't know who is behind these claims, or their intentions, nor do I care frankly."

Calls to crown prince's office

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A separate report by newspaper Yeni Safak said Maher Abdulaziz Mutreb, a member of Prince Mohammed's entourage on trips to the United States, France and Spain this year, made the calls from the consulate. The newspaper said the four calls went to Bader al-Asaker, head of Prince Mohammed's office. It said another call went to the United States.

Yeni Safak cited no source for the information. However, pro-government newspapers and Turkish security forces have been leaking information about Khashoggi's killing. Yeni Safak reported last week that Saudi officials cut off Khashoggi's fingers and then decapitated him at the consulate as his fiancée waited outside.

An image made from surveillance camera footage shows a man identified by Turkish officials as Maher Abdulaziz Mutreb walking toward the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul before Khashoggi disappeared on Oct. 2. The image was published Thursday by the pro-government Turkish newspaper Sabah. (Sabah via Associated Press)

Officials in Saudi Arabia have not answered repeated requests for comment from The Associated Press in recent days, including on Monday. Saudi Arabia so far has not acknowledged or explained Mutreb's presence in Istanbul — nor that a forensics and autopsy expert was also on hand for Khashoggi's arrival at the consulate.

Last week, a leaked photograph apparently taken from surveillance footage showed Mutreb at the consulate, just ahead of Khashoggi's arrival. Mutreb's name also matches that of a first secretary who once served as a diplomat at the Saudi Embassy in London, according to a 2007 list compiled by the British Foreign Office.

Condolence calls

Meanwhile, Saudi state media reported that both Prince Mohammed and King Salman made calls to Khashoggi's son, Salah, early on Monday morning. Statements from the agency said both the king and the crown prince expressed their condolences for Khashoggi's death.

A Saudi friend of Khashoggi who was in frequent touch with him before his death, told The Associated Press that Salah Khashoggi had been under a travel ban and barred from leaving the kingdom since last year as a result of his father's criticism of the government. The friend spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of repercussion. The Saudi statements did not acknowledge the ban.

Saudi Arabian Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman attends the G20 opening ceremony on Sept. 4, 2016, in Hangzhou, China. Officials linked to bin Salman, who is now crown prince, have been implicated in Khashoggi's killing. (Nicolas Asfouri/Getty Images)

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Five Turkish employees of the consulate also gave testimonies to prosecutors on Monday, Turkish media reported. Istanbul's chief prosecutor had summoned 28 more staff members of the Saudi Consulate, including Turkish citizens and foreign nationals, to give testimony. Some Turkish employees reportedly said they were instructed not to go to work around the time that Khashoggi disappeared.

Turkish investigators on Monday also visited an underground car park in Istanbul where authorities had found a vehicle belonging to the Saudi Consulate. News reports say the car was left there two weeks ago. Investigators looking into the disappearance of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi last week searched other consulate vehicles, along with the consulate building and the consul general's residence.

Analysis Saudi crown prince likely to survive diplomatic crisis spawned by Khashoggi killing

Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir on Sunday told Fox News that Khashoggi's killing was "a rogue operation" and that "we don't know where the body is."

"The individuals who did this did this outside the scope of their authority," he said. "There obviously was a tremendous mistake made and what compounded the mistake was the attempt to try to cover up. That is unacceptable to the government."

Criticism from U.S. lawmakers

However, leading Republicans and Democrats in Congress are saying Saudi Arabia should face punishment over Khashoggi's killing. U.S. President Donald Trump also had talked about possible punishment, but said he didn't want to halt proposed arms sales to Saudi Arabia because, he maintained, it would harm U.S. manufacturers.

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Speaking Monday, Trump said he is "not satisfied" with what he's heard from Saudi Arabia.

"We're going to get to the bottom of it."

White House adviser Jared Kushner said Monday on CNN he had urged Saudi Arabia's crown prince to be transparent about the killing, and told him "the world is watching" Riyadh's account of the journalist's disappearance. He did not say when or by what means he had communicated with Prince Mohammed, with whom he has cultivated a personal relationship.

Britain, Germany and France issued a joint statement condemning the killing of Khashoggi, saying there is an "urgent need for clarification of exactly what happened."

In a statement Sunday, the governments said attacks on journalists are unacceptable and "of utmost concern to our three nations." They said the "hypotheses" proposed so far in the Saudi investigation need to be backed by facts to be considered credible.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel told reporters in Berlin on Sunday that she supports a freeze on arms exports to Saudi Arabia. German Economy Minister Peter Altmaier on Monday called for a joint European position as Germany "won't at this point approve any further arms exports because we want to know what happened."

With files from Reuters and CBC News