Jamal Khashoggi was strangled as soon as he entered Saudi consulate, then cut into pieces and disposed of, Turkish prosecutor says
A TURKISH prosecutor has claimed Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi was strangled as soon as he entered the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul as part of a premeditated killing.
Prosecutor Irfan Fidan said that Khashoggi - who disappeared earlier this month - was then dismembered and disposed of.
A statement from chief Istanbul prosecutor Irfan Fidan's office also said 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, 59, was strangled and dismembered after he entered the Saudi Consulate on October 2.
Khashoggi, an outspoken and high-profile critic of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, collect paperwork needed to marry his Turkish fiancee Hatice Cengiz.
Ms Cengiz waited outside the consulate but never saw him again and later revealed that he had told her to call an adviser to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan if he did not return.
The statement from the Turkish prosecutor could cast doubt on the Saudi government's claims that Khashoggi died during a fight inside the Saudi consulate.
Previously, Turkish media reported that Saudi Arabia's top prosecutor, who is in Istanbul for discussions on the killing of Khashoggi, met with Turkish intelligence officials.
Private DHA news agency said earlier today that prosecutor, Saud al-Mojeb, paid a midnight visit to the Turkish intelligence agency's Istanbul headquarters.
However 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.
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.
Turkish investigators and intelligence agencies probing the journalist's disappearance and death have previously said that it was a premeditated strike.
It has been reported that Khashoggi was deliberately tortured and killed in a disturbing seven-minute execution.
The reports claim he was choked to death by Saudi assassins who rolled his body up in a rug and smuggled it out of their consulate in Istanbul.
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