Khashoggi was strangled, dismembered in Saudi consulate: Turkish prosecutor

Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi was strangled soon after he entered the kingdom's consulate in Istanbul earlier this month and his body was dismembered, the office of the Istanbul Chief Prosecutor said on Wednesday.

In a press statement, the Chief Prosecutor's office said that talks with Saudi Arabia's Public Prosecutor Saud Al Mojeb "ended with no concrete results". It said that the Saudi authorities did not release any statement regarding a local collaborator in the Khashoggi murder, Yenisafak newspaper reported.

The journalist was suffocated immediately after entering Saudi Arabia's consulate in Istanbul on October 2, the statement added, as it reiterated a request for the extradition of suspects arrested by Saudi Arabia in the case of the brutal murder.

Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor Irfan Fidan said he was invited to Saudi Arabia as part of the probe.

According to the statement, the killing of Khashoggi, a Washington Post columnist and a supporter-turned-critic of Saudi Crown Prince Mohamad bin Salman, was "pre-planned and his body parts were disposed off after being dismembered".

He was "choked immediately" after entering Saudi Arabia's consulate in Istanbul to get documents for his forthcoming marriage, it said.

According to the report, Fidan asked Mojeb about the location of the journalist's body and whether the Saudi investigation had reached any findings regarding plans to kill Khashoggi.

After a weeks-long denial, Saudi Arabia admitted on October 25 that the journalist fell victim to a premeditated killing in the building, although the whereabouts of his body remained unclear.

--IANS

soni/bg