Saudi Arabia said Thursday the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in Istanbul was “premeditated” based on information supplied by Turkey, state media reported.
“Information from the Turkish authorities indicates that the act of the suspects in the Khashoggi case was premeditated,” the public prosector said in a statement carried by the state-run Saudi Press Agency.
It comes as CIA director Gina Haspel heard an audio recording of the killing during her visit to Turkey this week, according to two sources speaking to Reuters on Thursday.
Representatives of the CIA and Turkish intelligence have declined to comment on Haspel’s review of the recording.
Saudi Arabia first denied any involvement in Khashoggi’s disappearance on Oct 2 but a Saudi official eventually attributed his death at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul to a botched attempt to return him to the kingdom.
Turkey has dismissed Saudi efforts to blame rogue operatives and urged the kingdom to search “top to bottom” for those responsible for the killing, which has stirred international outrage and condemnation.
Haspel, who arrived in Turkey on Monday, listened to an audio recording of Khashoggi’s killing during her visit, according to the sources, speaking on the condition they were not further identified.
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Thursday that Ankara had shared information with some parties who sought additional details. He told reporters that Turkey had no intention of taking the case to an international court but would share information if an international inquiry were launched.
Turkish officials have previously said authorities have an audio recording purportedly documenting Khashoggi’s killing. Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan has said the Washington Post columnist and critic of the Saudi leadership was killed in a planned, “savage killing” and has demanded Riyadh punish those responsible, no matter how highly placed.
Saudi Arabia’s powerful Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman vowed on Wednesday that the killers would be brought to justice, in his first public comments on the matter.
Despite international condemnation and widespread boycott of its Davos in the Desert investment conference, Saudi Arabia said it signed $56 billion of deals this week and expected the United States to remain a key business partner.
More than two dozen top officials and executives from the United States and Europe, including US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and chief executives of big banks, boycotted the investment conference.
There was concern that, temporarily at least, commercial ties with the West could be damaged as the blow to Riyadh’s reputation and the risk of economic sanctions over the Khashoggi affair made it harder to enter new deals.
Still, the three-day Future Investment Initiative conference drew hundreds of businessmen and government officials from around the world to a palatial venue in Riyadh, aiming to attract foreign capital to support Saudi economic reforms.
“There were more than 25 deals signed worth $56 billion,” Saudi Energy Minister Khalid Al-Falih told state television on Thursday, adding that U.S. companies accounted for most of those contracts.
He added: “The US will remain a key part of the Saudi economy because the interests that tie us are bigger than what is being weakened by the failed boycotting campaign of the conference.”