A TURKISH newspaper has published surveillance video images showing a man who previously travelled with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s entourage walking into the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul before journalist Jamal Khashoggi vanished there.

The pro-government Sabah newspaper’s report showed the man outside the Saudi consul general’s home later, then checking out of a Turkish hotel as a large suitcase stood by his side before leaving Turkey on October 2.

The report came as Turkish crime scene investigators finished a search of both the Saudi consul general’s residence and a second search of the consulate itself amid Ankara’s fears that Saudi authorities had Khashoggi killed and dismembered inside the diplomatic mission in Istanbul.

Khashoggi, a Washington Post columnist who went into a self-imposed exile in the US over the rise of Prince Mohammed, is feared dead after entering the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul more than two weeks ago.

Yesterday The Washington Post published what it described as Khashoggi’s last column in honour of the missing journalist. In it, Khashoggi pointed to the muted international response to ongoing abuses against journalists by governments in the Middle East.

Saudi Arabia, which initially called the allegations “baseless”, has not responded to repeated requests for comment over recent days.

US secretary of State Mike Pompeo said yesterday he has told Saudi’s rulers the US takes “very seriously” the disappearance, adding that the US will await the outcome of investigations before deciding how to respond.

The Sabah report showed the man walking past police barricades at the consulate at 9.55am local time with several men trailing behind him. Khashoggi arrived at the consulate several hours later at 1.14pm, then disappeared while his fiancee waited outside for him. He had arrived at the consulate to pick up some paperwork he needed in order to get married.

An earlier report by the Yeni Safak newspaper, citing what it described as an audio recording of Khashoggi’s killing, said a Saudi team immediately accosted the 60-year-old after he entered the consulate, cutting off his fingers and later decapitating him.

Previously leaked surveillance footage showed consular vehicles moving from the consulate to the consul general’s residence, just over a mile away.

Security services in Turkey have used pro-government media to leak details of Khashoggi’s case, adding to the pressure on the kingdom.

The man in the images’ identity cannot immediately be verified, although he is one of the individuals previously identified by Turkish authorities as being involved in the 15-man Saudi team that targeted Khashoggi.