Saudi admits journalist Khashoggi dismembered in consulate; exonerates crown prince

Riyadh, November 15

Saudi Arabia's public prosecutor on Thursday exonerated Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, accusing two senior officials of giving the orders.

A spokesman for the public prosecutor's office denied Prince Mohammed had any knowledge of the killing inside the kingdom's Istanbul consulate, in response to a journalist's question.

The spokesman said the deputy chief of Saudi intelligence, General Ahmed al-Assiri, had given an order to force Khashoggi home—and "the head of the negotiating team" that flew to Istanbul had ordered his murder.

Saudi Arabia also admitted that Khashoggi’s body was dismembered in the consulate and said five officials face death penalty for the murder—the first such admission from the kingdom. 

Khashoggi, a Washington Post columnist and vocal dissident, died after being drugged by the five accused and then dismembered, a spokesman for the public prosecutor's office said in the first Saudi acknowledgement of the manner of his killing.

The journalist's body parts were then handed over to an agent outside the consulate grounds, the spokesman said. — Agencies