A Turkish prosecutor says Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi was strangled as soon as he entered the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul as part of a premeditated killing, and his body was dismembered and disposed of.

A statement from chief Istanbul prosecutor Irfan Fidan’s office also said Wednesday that discussions with Saudi chief prosecutor Saud al-Mojeb have yielded no “concrete results” despite “good-willed efforts” by Turkey to uncover the truth.

The statement is the first public confirmation by a Turkish official that Khashoggi was strangled and dismembered after he entered the Saudi Consulate on Oct. 2 to collect paperwork needed to marry his Turkish fiancee. </s> RIYADH (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia’s minister of state for foreign affairs rejected on Wednesday a U.N. report that said there is credible evidence that Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and other high-level officials are liable for the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

“Nothing new...,” tweeted Adel al-Jubeir. “The report of the rapporteur in the human rights council contains clear contradictions and baseless allegations which challenge its credibility.” </s> RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s minister of state for foreign affairs rejected on Wednesday a U.N. report that said there is credible evidence that Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and other high-level officials are liable for the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

“Nothing new…,” tweeted Adel al-Jubeir. “The report of the rapporteur in the human rights council contains clear contradictions and baseless allegations which challenge its credibility.”

Earlier, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and other senior Saudi officials should be investigated over the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi since there is credible evidence they are liable for his death, a U.N. rights investigator said on Wednesday. </s> The United States sanctioned 17 Saudi Arabian nationals Thursday in connection with the killing of the journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

The announcement came just hours after Saudi Arabia said it will seek the death penalty for five suspects among 11 charged in the killing of the Washington Post columnist.

Among those sanctioned by the the Treasury Department was Saud Al-Qahtani, a former senior adviser to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. The sanctions freeze their U.S. asserts and prohibit Americans from doing business with them.

"The Saudi officials we are sanctioning were involved in the abhorrent killing of Jamal Khashoggi," Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in a statement. "These individuals who targeted and brutally killed a journalist who resided and worked in the United States must face consequences for their actions. The Government of Saudi Arabia must take appropriate steps to end any targeting of political dissidents or journalists."

Earlier Thursday, Saud Al-Mojeb, the kingdom's top public prosecutor, said the most senior official behind Khashoggi’s murder in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on Oct. 2. is Ahmad al-Assiri, a former deputy intelligence chief.

Al-Assiri was arrested and fired for ordering Khashoggi's forced return to Saudi Arabia, an operation that Riyadh has tried to characterize as a botched rendition by rogue operatives. Al-Mojeb did not say whether Al-Assiri was facing the death penalty. He said 21 people are in custody and 11 have been indicted in connection with the case.

Protestors hold candles and pictures of Jamal Khashoggi during the demonstration in front of Saudi Arabian consulate in Istanbul, Turkey.

Turkey says it has audio evidence that proves the Washington Post columnist's murder was sanctioned at the highest level in Saudi Arabia, likely in coordination with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the nation's de facto ruler and a close U.S. ally.

On Monday, Canada's Justin Trudeau became the first western leader to confirm that Turkey has shared this evidence with other countries' intelligence agencies. President Donald Trump has acknowledged its existence but has not said whether he's heard it.

The recording was shared last month with the C.I.A. Director Gina Haspel.

However, Al-Mojeb did not address that, and only requested that Turkish authorities release additional information about their investigation. He said Khashoggi's murderers drugged and killed the writer inside the consulate before dismembering the body and handing it over for disposal by an unidentified local collaborator.

Following Al-Mojeb's remarks, Turkey released a statement urging Saudi Arabia to reveal who ordered Khashoggi's killing. It also called the prosecutor's comments "unsatisfactory" and insisted that the suspects be extradited to Turkey for trial.

Khashoggi's remains are unaccounted for more than a month after he entered the consulate to obtain legal documents needed to marry his Turkish fiancee.

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has said he has pressed the Saudis for answers over the case and told Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in a phone call that "the United States will hold all of those involved in the killing of Jamal Khashoggi accountable." The Trump administration has also appeared intent on preserving its relationship with Saudi Arabia's leadership despite the affair.

More: Report: Saudis discussed killing other enemies long before Khashoggi's death </s> Saudi Arabia’s top prosecutor is recommending the death penalty for five suspects charged with ordering and carrying out the killing of Saudi writer Jamal Khashoggi.

FILE - In this Friday, Nov. 2, 2018 file photo, a video image of Hatice Cengiz, fiancee of slain Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, is played during an event to remember Khashoggi, who was killed inside the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul on Oct. 2, in Washington. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)

Saudi Arabia’s top prosecutor said Thursday he’s seeking the death penalty for five suspects charged with ordering and carrying out the killing of dissident Saudi writer Jamal Khashoggi at the kingdom’s consulate in Istanbul.

The disclosures by the prosecution appear aimed at distancing the killers and their operation from Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, whose decision-making powers have thrust him into the centre of a global outcry over the killing.

Chief Saudi prosecutor Saud al-Mojeb’s decision to seek the death penalty before trial is not unusual in Saudi Arabia.

Facing mounting international pressure, prosecutors also pointed the finger at two men who were part of the crown prince’s inner circle, but stopped short of accusing them of ordering a hit on Khashoggi. The two are instead being accused of ordering Khashoggi’s forced return in an operation the Saudis allege went awry.

In a press conference later Thursday, Sheikh Shalan al-Shalan, spokesman and deputy attorney-general, said the Oct. 2 killing was ordered by one man: the individual responsible for the negotiating team sent to forcibly bring Khashoggi back to Saudi Arabia.

He did not disclose that individual’s name, but said he was part of a 15-man team sent to Turkey comprised of three groups: negotiators, intelligence and logistics.

He said that on the morning of the killing, the leader of the negotiating team saw that he would not be able to force Khashoggi to return “so he decided to kill him in the moment.”

This appears to contradict a previous Saudi statement quoting Turkish intelligence saying the killing had been premeditated.

Al-Shalan said that Khashoggi’s killers had set in motion plans for the operation on Sept. 29 — three days before his slaying in Istanbul. He says the killers drugged and killed the writer inside the consulate, before dismembering the body and handing it over for disposal by an unidentified local collaborator. The body has never been found.

The brutal death of Khashoggi, a Washington Post columnist who had been critical of the crown prince, has sent shock waves around the world and led analysts and officials to believe a sensitive operation of this magnitude could not have been carried out without the prince’s knowledge.

Read more: Canada stands pat on Saudi arms sales, even after hearing Khashoggi tape

Read more: Turkey to Saudi Arabia: Where is Khashoggi’s body?

The latest Saudi account of what took place failed to appease officials in Turkey, who insist the killing and its coverup were carried out by the highest levels of government.

“We did not find some of his explanations to be satisfactory,” Turkey’s Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said after the Saudi announcement.

“Those who gave the order, the real perpetrators need to be revealed. This process cannot be closed down in this way,” he added.

Through a series of orchestrated leaks, including audio of the killing shared with Western intelligence, Turkey has attempted to keep pressure on the crown prince, who sees Turkey as a regional rival.

Turkey alleges that among those sent to Istanbul was a forensics expert.

In an apparent reference this specialist, al-Shalan said the organizer of the operation — who was not named — called on a specialist to be part of the team to erase evidence if Khashoggi needed to be forcibly returned to Saudi Arabia. Prosecutors said this specialist was working without the direct knowledge of his boss.

Saudi Arabia said 21 people are now in custody, with 11 indicted and referred to trial. The Turkish government is demanding the suspects be investigated and put on trial in Turkey.

Among the high-level officials incriminated in connection with the killing is former deputy intelligence chief Ahmed al-Assiri, who was fired in the immediate aftermath of the killing.

Al-Assiri, believed to have been a close confidant of Prince Mohammed, and former royal court adviser Saud al-Qahtani are accused of planning and ordering Khashoggi’s forced return to Saudi Arabia. Prosecutors say the men formed a 15-man Saudi team to carry out the operation.

Saudi prosecutors said the men deemed Khashoggi a threat because of his work as a writer and because he was allegedly backed by groups and countries that are hostile to Saudi Arabia.

However, Saudi prosecutors stopped short of accusing al-Assiri or al-Qahtani of ordering the killing itself — further distancing the killers from the crown prince’s inner circle and bolstering Saudi assertions that the killing was carried out by rogue agents who exceeded their authority. Both men were fired from their posts last month amid fallout from the killing.

Khashoggi had been living in self-imposed exile abroad for nearly a year before he was killed by Saudi agents at the consulate on Oct. 2. In his writing, he was especially critical of the crown prince, who’d been leading a wide-reaching crackdown on activists and critics inside the kingdom since last year.

Khashoggi had gone to the consulate in Istanbul to obtain documents for his upcoming marriage. His Turkish fiancee waited outside and first raised the alarm about his disappearance.

Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter. </s> RIYADH: A Saudi minister on Wednesday slammed as "unfounded" a UN expert report calling for those involved in the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi to be held accountable.



"It is not new. The (UN) report reiterates what has already been published and circulated in the media," Adel al-Jubeir, Saudi minister of state for foreign affairs, said on Twitter.

"The report... contains clear contradictions and unfounded allegations, casting doubt on its credibility."

The report by Agnes Callamard, the UN special rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, said there was "credible evidence" linking Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to Khashoggi´s murder inside the kingdom´s consulate in Istanbul last October.

Callamard called on UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres to initiate a formal international criminal investigation into the case.

Jubeir reiterated that the kingdom´s "competent" judicial authorities were holding trials of several people arrested over the killing.

The kingdom´s public prosecutor last November indicted 11 unnamed suspects, including five who could face the death penalty over the murder.

Diplomats from the UN Security Council´s permanent members -- Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States -- as well as Turkey and Saudi human rights organisations are allowed to attend the legal proceedings, Jubeir said. </s> ANKARA, Turkey (AP) - The Latest on the killing of writer Jamal Khashoggi in the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul (all times local):

A Turkish prosecutor says Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi was strangled as soon as he entered the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul as part of a premeditated killing, and his body was dismembered and disposed of.

A statement from chief Istanbul prosecutor Irfan Fidan's office also said Wednesday that discussions with Saudi chief prosecutor Saud al-Mojeb have yielded no "concrete results" despite "good-willed efforts" by Turkey to uncover the truth.

The statement is the first public confirmation by a Turkish official that Khashoggi was strangled and dismembered after he entered the Saudi Consulate on Oct. 2 to collect paperwork needed to marry his Turkish fiancee.

Saudi Arabia's top prosecutor Saud al-Mojeb, center left, leaves his hotel to go to his country's consulate in Istanbul, Tuesday, Oct. 30, 2018. The Turkish fiancee of slain journalist Jamal Khashoggi has called on U.S. President Donald Trump and other leaders to ensure that his death in Istanbul is not covered up, while Saudi Arabia's top prosecutor on Tuesday visited the Saudi Consulate where officials from his government killed the writer. (Can Erok/DHA via AP)

Turkish media reports say Saudi Arabia's top prosecutor, who is in Istanbul for discussions on the killing of Saudi writer Jamal Khashoggi, has met with Turkish intelligence officials.

Private DHA news agency said Wednesday the prosecutor, Saud al-Mojeb, paid a midnight visit to the Turkish intelligence agency's Istanbul headquarters. Officials were not immediately available to comment.

Turkey is seeking the extradition of 18 Saudi suspects detained in Saudi Arabia over the killing of Khashoggi in the Saudi Consulate after he entered the building on Oct. 2. It is also pressing Saudi Arabia for information concerning Khashoggi's remains, which still haven't been found, as well as who ordered the journalist's slaying.

Saudi officials have said the kingdom will try the 18 and bring them to justice after the investigation is complete.

Saudi Arabia's top prosecutor Saud al-Mojeb leaves his country's consulate in Istanbul, Tuesday, Oct. 30, 2018. The Turkish fiancee of slain journalist Jamal Khashoggi has called on U.S. President Donald Trump and other leaders to ensure that his death in Istanbul is not covered up, while Saudi Arabia's top prosecutor on Tuesday visited the Saudi Consulate where officials from his government killed the writer. (Can Erok/DHA via AP) </s> With every claim from Turkey detailing more lurid details in the alleged murder of Jamal Khashoggi, Saudi Arabia’s media bends further forward–risking a face plant in its efforts to kowtow to a different reality.

Such has been the concentration of power in the hands of one man in this kingdom, Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman, that until further notice, no one is going to divert from the official narrative. </s> ELKO, Nev. (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump said on Saturday that he is not satisfied with Saudi Arabia’s explanation for the circumstances around the killing of journalist and government critic Jamal Khashoggi in Istanbul.

Speaking to reporters in Nevada, Trump added that it was possible that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman had been unaware of the death.
Saudi Arabia accuses five of its officials of killing and dismembering journalist Jamal Khashoggi.