Turkish and Saudi officials have given conflicting reports on the whereabouts of Saudi journalist and fierce critic of the Riyadh regime Jamal Khashoggi, missing since he entered the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on October 3.

A report from The Associated Press put out on the afternoon of October 4 said the Saudi ambassador to Istanbul had been “invited” to the Turkish foreign ministry for talks on the matter.

Khashoggi, a regular contributor to The Washington Post, has regularly taken aim at Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and has criticised Saudi Arabia's policies toward Qatar and Canada, the war in Yemen and a crackdown on dissent, the media and activists.

A Saudi official denied that Khashoggi had been detained, according to Deutsche Welle.

"Mr Khashoggi visited the consulate to request paperwork related to his marital status and exited shortly thereafter," the official reportedly said on October 3. "He is neither in the consulate nor in Saudi custody."

In a column published by Middle East Eye on October 4, editor-in-chief of that publication and former chief foreign leader writer of The Guardian, David Hearst, wrote of Khashoggi: “He feared the crown prince would eventually bankrupt the country as a result of his vanity projects to raise new gleaming cities in the sand—cities that would remain empty. He recognised that MBS was popular with the youth, but calculated that popularity would last up to the point where they had to open their wallets. The Saudi journalist paid heed to reports of capital flight.”

Noting fraught relations between Riyadh and Ankara, Hearst said: “This is a delicate time for Saudi-Turkish relations. It is not in Riyadh's interest to upset the apple cart as publicly and clumsily as it appears to have done at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.

“Turkish intelligence are convinced that Khashoggi remains inside the building and have surrounded it. It is essential that Turkey secures Khashoggi's safe release for reasons that go beyond the man himself, and a threadbare bilateral relationship.” 

Turkish presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kalin said the journalist was still in the consulate and the government was monitoring the situation. "Our relevant authorities are in contact and engaged in negotiations with their [Saudi] counterparts. I hope this issue will be resolved with ease," he told reporters.

Khashoggi's website bore a banner saying: "Jamal has been arrested at the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul!"

Saudi Arabia's state-run SPA news agency reported early on October 4 that the kingdom's Istanbul consulate was investigating Khashoggi's "disappearance" from Istanbul.

"The consulate general of the kingdom of Saudi Arabia in Istanbul... confirmed that it is carrying out the follow-up procedures and coordination with Turkish local authorities to uncover the circumstances of the disappearance of Jamal Khashoggi after he left the consulate building," it read.

“Where is Jamal?”
Khashoggi's Turkish fiancee, who did not wished to be named, told Reuters news agency that she had waited outside the consulate from 13:00 local time on October 2 and called the police when he did not reappear.

"If this [Saudi claim] was true, where is he? Where is he? If he went home, no, I went to the house and didn't find him. Where is Jamal?" she said.

The US State Department said it was aware of the disappearance and was seeking information from the Saudis and Turks.

The Washington Post put out a statement expressing concerns about Khashoggi's whereabouts.

"It would be unfair and outrageous if he has been detained for his work as a journalist and commentator," Eli Lopez, international opinions editor for the newspaper, said. "We hope that he is safe and that we can hear from him soon."

Khashoggi has lived in self-imposed exile in the US for more than a year out of fear of retribution. For years he has regularly appeared on political talk shows on Arab news channels. He interviewed al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden several times in Afghanistan and Sudan.

Khashoggi in 2015 launched the now-shut news channel Al-Arab in 2015, backed by Saudi billionaire Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal, who was among several businessmen detained last year at the Ritz Carlton on the orders of the Saudi crown prince.