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CCTV images have emerged showing a Saudi intelligence officer dressed in a fake beard and Jamal Khashoggi's clothes and glasses on the day the journalist disappeared.

The man was captured on surveillance cameras leaving the Saudi consulate in Istanbul and walking around the city on October 2.

He is said to have been part of the 15-man Saudi team wanted for questioning over the death of journalist Khashoggi. The footage is believed to have been taken just hours after the writer was last seen alive entering the embassy.

The official in the clip has been named as Mustafa al-Madani, according to CNN, which said it had spoken to a senior Turkish official. The same man was seen in the writer's clothing at the city's Blue Mosque just hours after Khashoggi's disappearance, Turkish investigators say.

Reports in Turkey have claimed the Saudi team accosted Khashoggi in the building, cut off his fingers, killed and dismembered the 59-year-old writer.

CCTV images have emerged showing a Saudi intelligence officer dressed in a fake beard and Jamal Khashoggi's clothes and glasses (left) on the day the journalist disappeared

The footage is said to have been taken just hours after the writer was last seen alive entering the embassy (pictured)

Turkish officials say the Saudi team accosted Khashoggi (pictured) in the embassy, cut off his fingers, killed and dismembered the 59-year-old writer

It comes as Turkish media reported that a member of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's entourage made four calls to the royal's office from the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul the day Jamal Khashoggi was killed there.

Maher Abdulaziz Mutreb made the calls to Bader al-Asaker, the head of the Crown Prince's office with another going to the United States, according to Yeni Safak. 

Today, CNN aired surveillance footage showing a man in Khashoggi's dress shirt, suit jacket and trousers. He was also seen wearing a fake beard suggesting the operation was likely pre-planned. Madani was seen at the city's airport earlier that day with just a moustache.

Madani was seen at the city's airport earlier that day with just a moustache (pictured)

CNN 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 official said that 'Khashoggi's clothes were probably still warm when Madani put them on.'

The man in the footage is seen 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 October 8. 'I don't know who is behind these claims, or their intentions, nor do I care frankly.'

A senior Saudi official has already said that one of the 15-strong team dressed up in Khashoggi's clothes to make it appear as if he had left the consulate.

The footage also shows Madani wearing his own blue and white checked shirt and dark  trousers

Khashoggi's fiancee, Hatice Cengiz, (pictured) said he had handed her his two mobile phones and left instructions that she should wait for him and call an aide to Turkey's president if he did not reappear

Turkish media reported that a member of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's entourage made four calls to the royal's office from the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul the day Jamal Khashoggi (pictured) was killed there 

Saudi foreign minister Adel al-Jubeir (pictured) insisted on Sunday that Prince Mohammed was 'not aware' of the killing and that the regime was still working on finding the body

The official said operative Madani also wore Khashoggi's glasses and Apple watch and left through the back door.

He said the journalist had been placed in a chokehold during which he accidentally died – and then his body was smuggled out of the building in a rolled-up carpet.

On Friday the kingdom admitted Mr Khashoggi was dead after repeatedly claiming the high-profile critic of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman had walked out of the consulate unharmed.

It said the journalist was killed in a 'fist fight' and that the government had fired five top officials and arrested 18 others as a result of the initial investigation.

Yesterday Saudi foreign minister Adel al-Jubeir told Fox News: 'Unfortunately, a huge and grave mistake was made and I assure them that those responsible will be held accountable for this.' He added: 'We don't know where the body is.'

It came after a senior Saudi official, who requested anonymity, contradicted previous explanations. He said the team of 15 Saudis sent to confront Mr Khashoggi on October 2 had threatened him with being drugged and kidnapped, and then killed him in a chokehold when he resisted.

Madani then donned Mr Khashoggi's clothes, glasses and Apple watch before leaving the building to make it look like the journalist had left, it was claimed.

The body was then rolled up in a rug, taken out in a consular vehicle and given to a 'local co-operator' for disposal, he added. Forensic expert Salah Tubaigy tried to remove any trace of the incident, the official said.

Madani later went to the Sultanahmet district where he disposed of Mr Khashoggi's belongings, it was claimed. Asked about claims the journalist had been tortured and beheaded, the official said preliminary results of the investigation did not suggest so. 

The government wanted to convince Mr Khashoggi, who moved to Washington a year ago fearing reprisals for his views, to return to the kingdom as part of a campaign to prevent dissidents from being recruited by Saudi Arabia's enemies, the official said. 

Prince Mohammed has denied involvement with the disappearance of Khashoggi, who was a fierce critic of his policies 

On Friday the kingdom admitted Mr Khashoggi was dead after repeatedly claiming the high-profile critic of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (pictured) had walked out of the consulate unharmed 

More than two weeks after Jamal Khashoggi was murdered, Saudi King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman offered their condolences to his family. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs released this official image to announce the news 

But things soon went wrong as the team overstepped their orders and quickly employed violence, he added.

It was claimed Mr Khashoggi told one of the men, Maher Mutreb, that he was violating diplomatic norms and said: 'What are you going to do with me? Do you intend to kidnap me?' Mutreb replied, 'Yes, we will drug you and kidnap you,' in what the official said was an attempt at intimidation that violated the mission's objective. When Mr Khashoggi raised his voice, the team panicked. They moved to restrain him, placing him in a chokehold and covering his mouth, according to the government's account.

'They tried to prevent him from shouting but he died,' the official said. 'The intention was not to kill him.'

Asked if the team had smothered Mr Khashoggi, the official explained: 'If you put someone of Jamal's age in this position, he would probably die.'

The official said the team then wrote a false report for superiors saying they had allowed Mr Khashoggi to leave once he warned that Turkish authorities could get involved.

The Saudi authorities initially dismissed reports that Mr Khashoggi had gone missing inside the consulate as false and said he had left the building soon after entering. When the Press reported a few days later that he had been killed there, they called the accusations 'baseless'.

Turkish officials believe the Saudis may have dumped his remains in Belgrad Forest near Istanbul, and at a rural location near the city of Yalova, 55 miles south of Istanbul.

Yesterday Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan said he would reveal the 'naked truth' about the killing at a briefing tomorrow.     

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 AP 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.

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.

It comes amid reports that Turkish police fear the alleged 'hit squad' suspected of killing Khashoggi will be executed before investigators can reveal what really happened in the embassy.

According to the Middle East Eye, police fear the suspects will be rounded up and killed before they have the chance to question them. 

In the US, leading Republicans and Democrats in Congress are saying Saudi Arabia should face punishment over Khashoggi's killing. 

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.

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 underlined that point Monday, calling for a joint European position as Germany 'won't at this point approve any further arms exports because we want to know what happened.'