Saudi Arabia confirms dead journalist Khashoggi

riyadh - The Saudi authorities have confirmed the death of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. According to the Saudi prosecutor, there is a fight between him and people he met out there at the consulate in Istanbul that led to his death, reports Saudi state television.

Eighteen Saudis have been arrested in connection with the investigation into the death of the journalist in the consulate in the Turkish city on 2 October. 'The investigation is still ongoing', the public prosecutor said in a statement.

King Salman bin Abdulaziz al-Saud has ordered the resignation of Saud Al-Qahtani of the royal court and of Ahmed Asiri, the vice-director of the security service. The king has set up a ministerial commission headed by crown prince Mohammed bin Salman to reform the security service.

The Saudi King had had telephone conversations with the Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan earlier in the day. Both had agreed that the countries will cooperate in the investigation into the disappearance of Khashoggi, reported the Turkish news agency Anadulo.

The Turkish judiciary had started Friday by hearing employees from the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. According to the Turkish authorities, Khashoggi was tortured and killed there by a death squad that had arrived in Turkey in the morning from Saudi Arabia.

Journalist Khashoggi visited the Saudi consulate in early October to arrange his divorce papers so that he could marry his Turkish fiancé. However, cameras outside the building have not registered his departure.

The 59-year-old Khashoggi was a prominent journalist who in the past advised the intelligence boss of Saudi Arabia. Partly because of his good contacts with Osama bin Laden, whom he interviewed several times. Khashoggi (59) was a critical reporter in a country where the press was muzzled. He led the largest English-language newspaper and twice the largest Arabic-language daily newspaper. There he was sent away after critical articles.

Riyadh continued to insist that he had nothing to do with the disappearance of Khashoggi, who was last seen on October 2. Turkey assumes that he was killed there by a specially flown in hired killer. According to Foreign Minister Davusogi, the Saudis, despite previous commitments, are not very helpful in the investigation.