Saudi Arabia has admitted that critic Jamal Khashoggi was killed inside its Istanbul consulate, as world powers demanded answers and mystery surrounded the whereabouts of his body.
Ankara vowed to reveal all the details of a two-week inquiry as US President Donald Trump said he was unsatisfied with Saudi Arabia's response to the Washington Post columnist's death and the EU, Germany, France, Britain and the UN also demanded clarity.
Before dawn on Saturday, Riyadh backtracked on a fortnight of denials by announcing that Khashoggi died during a "brawl" inside the consulate on October 2.
It said 18 Saudis have been arrested in connection with his death and two top aides of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, as well as three other intelligence agents, have been sacked.
Saudi Arabia has plunged into an international crisis over the fate of Khashoggi, who was critical of the crown prince.
Turkish officials have accused Riyadh of carrying out a state-sponsored killing and dismembering the body, which police have begun hunting for in an Istanbul forest.
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In the latest version of events from Riyadh, Saudi Attorney General Sheikh Saud al-Mojeb said Khashoggi died after talks at the consulate degenerated into a physical altercation.
"Discussions that took place between him and the persons who met him... at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul led to a brawl and a fistfight with the citizen, Jamal Khashoggi, which led to his death, may his soul rest in peace," the attorney general said in a statement.
Trump said he found the explanation credible. The US president later said he was unsatisfied with the response, although he warned against scrapping a multibillion-dollar arms deal with the conservative kingdom.
"It was a big first step. It was a good first step," Trump said of the sackings.
"But I want to get to the answer."
German Chancellor Angela Merkel urged "transparency from Saudi Arabia" and said that "available reports on what happened in the Istanbul consulate are insufficient." French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said many questions remained "unanswered" and insisted "they require exhaustive and diligent investigation."
The EU's top diplomat Federica Mogherini called for a "continued thorough, credible and transparent investigation, shedding proper clarity on the circumstances of the killing and ensuring full accountability of all those responsible for it." UN chief Antonio Guterres stressed "the need for a prompt, thorough and transparent investigation," and "full accountability for those responsible."
Britain's Foreign Office, which also has close ties to Riyadh, said it "was a terrible act and those responsible must be held to account."
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