Turkish police have found no DNA traces in water samples taken from a well located in the residence of the Saudi Arabian consul in Istanbul as they search for missing journalist Jamal Khashoggi, Turkish media reports.
Teams of investigators were able to access the consulate in Istanbul for the first time on October 15, 13 days after the Saudi journalist entered there and was killed, as Riyadh has already admitted.
On October 17, the teams obtained permission to search the consular residence, located about 200 metres away.
Turkish Hurriyet newspaper reported that the police tried to empty the water from a well located in the residence, but the Saudi authorities refused to allow access to firefighters because they did not appear on a previously agreed list of names.
The agents finally inspected the well with a camera and took samples of water, which were sent to a laboratory.
However, no traces of Khashoggi's DNA was detected.
The newspaper also pointed out that all vehicles of the consulate were subjected to a thorough professional cleaning before the Turkish teams received permission to search them.
The Saudi public prosecutor's office has recently admitted, based on a report from Turkey, that the killing of Washington Post columnist Khashoggi had been planned in advance, adding that those responsible for the crime would be punished.
Initially, Saudi Arabia said Khashoggi had left its consulate alive on October 2, but nearly three weeks later, the Arab kingdom admitted he had been killed at the diplomatic mission's building due to a fight, an account that has caused scepticism and which several governments have questioned.
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, right, shakes hands with Salah Khashoggi the son of slained journalist Jamal Khashoggi. Source: AAP
Later, the Saudi prosecutor's office announced 18 people had been arrested and that the security officials involved in the case had stepped down.
Turkey said it believed a hit squad of Saudi nationals had travelled to Istanbul with the sole purpose of killing Khashoggi, a former member of the Saudi elite who became critical of the current government's administration in his country.
