(3 Oct 2018) A Saudi journalist who has written Washington Post columns critical of the kingdom's assertive crown prince has gone missing after visiting the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul.
The newspaper and his supporters raised concerns over his safety on Wednesday.
Jamal Khashoggi's personal website bore a banner saying "Jamal has been arrested at the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul!" without elaborating.
A statement from Saudi Arabia later denied that and said Khashoggi left immediately after visiting the consulate, though supporters say his fiancée waited for hours outside the building on Tuesday before calling for help.
The vigil continued Wednesday, as Khashoggi's supporters linked his disappearance to the arrest of other businessmen, politicians and activists amid 33-year-old Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's rise to power.
Khashoggi, 59, is a long time Saudi journalist, foreign correspondent, editor and columnist whose work has been controversial in the past in the ultraconservative Sunni kingdom.
He went into a self-imposed exile in the United States following the ascension of Prince Mohammed, now next in line to the throne to his father, the 82-year-old King Salman.
As a contributor to the Post, Khashoggi has written extensively about Saudi Arabia, including criticising its war in Yemen, its recent diplomatic spat with Canada and its arrest of women's rights activists after the lifting of a ban on women driving.
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