Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has posed with Khashoggi's family at the Saudi royal palace. But with the US targeting "Saudi suspects," the kingdom faces mounting pressure to provide a credible account of the murder.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa
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Saudi King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman expressed their condolences Tuesday to the family of slain journalist Jamal Khashoggi at the Yamama Palace in Riyadh, the state-run SPA news agency said.
Photographs of the gathering showed Khashoggi's brother Sahl bin Ahmed Khashoggi and his son Salah Jamal Khashoggi (pictured above) exchanging handshakes with the two royals as a cameraman filmed in the background.
Sahl and Salah gave their thanks to the king and crown prince, the SPA report added. A friend of the family told The Associated Press that Salah cannot leave the country because he has been under a travel ban since last year.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan also offered his condolences to the Khashoggi family in a phone call and told them he would do "everything necessary to solve the murder," the Turkish presidency said.
US targets 'Saudi suspects'
Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi, a vocal critic of the crown prince, disappeared after entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on October 2. Saudi Arabia initially claimed the 59-year-old had left the premises after picking up some documents, but later said he had died accidentally in a "fistfight."
US State Secretary Mike Pompeo said the Trump administration would move to revoke visas of concerned Saudi officials. Shortly afterward, the State Department said 21 "Saudi suspects" would no longer be able to enter the US.
"These penalties will not be the last word on this matter," Pompeo said. The Trump administration "will continue to hold those responsible accountable. We're making very clear that the United States does not tolerate this kind of ruthless action to silence Mr. Khashoggi, a journalist, with violence."
Jamal Khashoggi: A mysterious disappearance and death
Official Saudi statements on the fate of journalist Jamal Khashoggi have changed several times since he disappeared at the Istanbul consulate on October 2. DW traces the most important events in this intricate case.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/J. Martin
Vanishes into thin air
October 2: Prominent journalist Jamal Khashoggi was last seen entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, where he had gone to obtain an official document for his upcoming marriage to his Turkish fiancee, Hatice Cengiz. He never emerged from the building, prompting Cengiz, who waited outside, to raise the alarm.
Image: Reuters TV
Confusion over whereabouts
October 3: Turkish and Saudi officials came up with conflicting reports on Khashoggi's whereabouts. Riyadh said the journalist had left the mission shortly after his work was done. But Turkish presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kalin said the journalist was still in the consulate.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/V. Mayo
Murder claims
October 6: Turkish officials said they believed the journalist was likely killed inside the Saudi consulate. The Washington Post, for which Khashoggi wrote, cited unnamed sources to report that Turkish investigators believe a 15-member team "came from Saudi Arabia" to kill the man.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/H. Jamali
Ankara seeks proof
October 8: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called on Saudi Arabia to prove that Khashoggi left its consulate in Istanbul. Turkey also sought permission to search the mission premises. US President Donald Trump voiced concern about the journalist's disappearance.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/T. Kovacs
'Davos in the Desert' hit
October 12: British billionaire Richard Branson halted talks over a $1 billion Saudi investment in his Virgin group's space ventures, citing Khashoggi's case. He also pulled out of an investment conference in Riyadh dubbed the "Davos in the Desert." His move was followed by Uber's Dara Khosrowshahi, JP Morgan's Jamie Dimon and a host of other business leaders.
Image: picture alliance/dpa
Search operation
October 15: Turkish investigators searched the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. The search lasted more than eight hours and investigators removed samples from the building, including soil from the consulate garden and a metal door, one official said.
Image: Reuters/M. Sezer
Death after fistfight
October 19: Saudi Arabia finally admitted that Khashoggi died at the consulate. The kingdom's public prosecutor said preliminary investigations showed the journalist was killed in a "fistfight." He added that 18 people had been detained. A Saudi Foreign Ministry official said the country is "investigating the regrettable and painful incident."
Image: Getty Images/C. McGrath
'Grave mistake'
October 21: Saudi Arabia provided yet another account of what happened to Khashoggi. The kingdom's foreign minister admitted the journalist was killed in a "rogue operation," calling it a "huge and grave mistake," but insisted that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman had not been aware of the murder. Riyadh said it had no idea where Khashoggi's body was.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/C. Owen
Germany halts arms sales
October 21: German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Germany would put arms exports to Saudi Arabia on hold for the time being, given the unexplained circumstances of Khashoggi's death. Germany is the fourth largest exporter of weapons to Saudi Arabia after the United States, Britain and France.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/S. Sauer
Strangled to death, dissolved in acid
October 31: The Turkish prosecutor concluded that Khashoggi was strangled to death soon after entering the consulate, and was then dismembered. Another Turkish official later claimed the body was dissolved in acid. Turkish President Erdogan said the order to murder the journalist came from "the highest levels" of Saudi Arabia's government.
Image: picture-alliance/AA/M. E. Yildirim
Grilled at the UN
November 5: Saudi Arabia told the United Nations it would prosecute those responsible for Khashoggi's murder. This came as the United States and dozens of other countries raised the journalist's death before the UN Human Rights Council and called for a transparent investigation.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/F. Coffrini
Fiancee in mourning
November 8: Khashoggi's fiancee, Hatice Cengiz, wrote on Twitter that she was "unable to express her sorrow" upon learning that the journalist's body was dissolved with chemicals. "Are these killers and those behind it human beings?" she tweeted.
Image: Reuters/Haberturk
Turkey shares audio recordings
November 10: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan reveals that officials from Saudi Arabia, the US, Germany, France and Britain have listened to audio recordings related to the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/Presidential Press Service
Symbolic funeral prayers
November 16: A symbolic funeral prayer for Khashoggi is held in the courtyard of the Fatih Mosque in Istanbul. Yasin Aktay, advisor to President Erdogan, speaks at the service.
Image: Reuters/M. Sezer
Saudi-owned villas searched
November 26: Turkish forensic police bring the investigation to the Turkish province of Yalova, where sniffer dogs and drones search two Saudi-owned villas in the village Samanli.
Image: Reuters/O . Orsal
100 days since killing
January 10: Amnesty International Turkey members demonstrate outside the Saudi Arabia Consulate in Istanbul, marking 100 day since the killing of Jamal Khashoggi. One woman holds up a street sign which reads "Jamal Khashoggi Street". The organization has called for an international investigation into the case.
Image: Reuters/M. Sezer
Saudi murder trial begins
January 3: The Khashoggi trial begins in Saudi Arabia, where state prosecutors say they will seek the death sentence for five of the eleven suspects. A request for the gathered evidence has been send to Turkish authorities. A date for the second hearing has not yet been set.
Image: picture-alliance/abaca/Depo Photos
UN inquiry team in Turkey
January 28: Agnes Callamard, who is leading the UN probe into the handling of the Khashoggi case, arrives in Ankara where she meets with Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu. The human rights expect will stay in the country for the rest of the week to speak with prosecutors and others involved in the case.
Meanwhile, Sky News reported on Tuesday that Khashoggi's dismembered body parts had been discovered during a search of the Saudi consul general's residence in Istanbul.
Unnamed sources cited by Sky said the journalist had been "cut up" and his face severely "disfigured." One source also alleged that the remains were discovered in the consul general's garden.
The reports, which have not been confirmed, came after Erdogan told lawmakers Turkey had "strong evidence" that Saudi officials planned the "brutal murder" days in advance.
In a speech to parliament, he demanded those behind the killing "all be brought to account" and called on Riyadh to reveal the whereabouts of Khashoggi's body.
Search for evidence
Turkish officials allege Khashoggi was tortured, killed and dismembered inside the consulate by a 15-man hit squad flown in from Riyadh.
Last week, Turkish forensics teams searched the home of the Saudi consul general, located just 2 kilometers (1.2 miles) from the consulate. Local media reported that local security forces had also searched for evidence at a 3-story villa in Yalova province, near Istanbul. The property reportedly belonged to a member of the Saudi hit squad.
Saudi Arabia's Cabinet said on Tuesday that it would hold those behind the murder to account "no matter who they may be."
"Measures have been taken by the kingdom to uncover the truth and hold accountable all those whose incompetence or immediate responsibility" was behind the killing, a Cabinet statement published by the state-run SPA news agency said.
Saudi authorities say they have arrested 18 suspects, including members of the hit squad and consulate staff.
