Suspected UAE spy kills self in Turkish prison

One of two men suspected of spying for the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in Turkey has committed suicide in prison, state media has said.

Turkey's Haberturk news website first carried the report on Monday, with senior journalist Cetiner Cetin, who broke the story, saying the suspect hanged himself in Silivri prison on Sunday.

The suspect's death was later confirmed by the state-run Anadolu Agency.

The suspect, identified as Zaki Hasan, was found hanged in his cell in Silivri prison, west of Istanbul, on Sunday.

He allegedly confessed during the interrogation that he and the other suspect had spied on Arab dissidents.

According to a previous report by the news agencies, citing a senior Turkish official, one of the two men arrived in Turkey in October 2018, days after Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi was killed inside the kingdom's consulate in Istanbul.

The other person had arrived later to help his colleague with the workload, the unnamed official told Haberturk.

It is not clear if their arrival in Turkey was linked to the Khashoggi case.

Khashoggi, a prominent critic of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman was killed by Saudi operatives, provoking an international outcry.

The CIA and some Western countries believe Prince Mohammed, Saudi Arabia's de facto ruler, ordered the killing, an allegation Saudi officials deny.

The UAE is Saudi Arabia's closest Arab ally, but there has been no evidence to suggest that it was involved in Khashoggi's death.

The Istanbul prosecutor's office said in a statement that Hasan was found hanging from a bathroom door in his cell by prison guards when they arrived to give him food on Sunday morning.

An investigation had been launched and a post mortem carried out, it added.

The UAE has so far not commented on Hasan's death or his arrest.