Top Saudi official: Khashoggi’s death was ‘premeditated’

Saudi Arabia’s public prosecutor reportedly said on Thursday that journalist Jamal Khashoggi’s death was “premeditated.”

The official made the determination based on information from Turkish investigators, according to a statement from the kingdom’s Foreign Ministry first obtained by The Washington Post. 

{mosads}Riyadh initially denied any knowledge about the whereabouts of the dissident journalist, who was last seen entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul Oct. 2.

Last week, the kingdom announced that 18 people had been arrested and five officials were dismissed after Khashoggi, a Washington Post contributor, was accidentally killed in a fistfight by “rogue agents.”

The Foreign Ministry on Thursday did not provide additional details on the new information.

Shortly after Khashoggi’s disappearance, Turkish authorities said the journalist was killed in a premeditated attack by 15 Saudi agents sent to the consulate with the purpose of killing him because of his criticism of Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman.

President Trump and Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan have joined other world leaders in expressing skepticism of the Saudi version of Khashoggi’s death.