The Saudi authorities does not know what happened to the corpse of Jamal Khashoggi, a senior minister has said, amid reports that the dismembered body of the dissident journalist was "dissolved" after his brutal murder inside the Kingdom's consulate in Turkey.
Saudi Arabia has admitted that Khashoggi's killing on October 2 in Istanbul was premeditated and carried out by a group of men in the inner circle of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. The Washington Post, for which Khashoggi used to write, has reported that the Central Intelligence Agency has concluded that Salman "ordered" the killing.
But Riyadh denies that the crown prince had any involvement in the killing of 59-year-old Khashoggi, who was once a Saudi government insider, but had gone into self-imposed exile in the US. He had become an outspoken critic of the country's powerful Crown Prince Salman.
The dissident journalist was dismembered after his murder in October in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul but his remains have yet to be located.
On Sunday, the Saudi minister of state for foreign affairs, Adel al-Jubeir, said the government does not know where Khashoggi's body is.
When asked where Khashoggi's body is, he told CBS News, "We don't know."
"I would expect eventually that we would find the truth."
"Are they going to legislate sanctions against all countries where these journalists have been killed?"
"Mistakes happen," Jubeir told journalists in Washington on Friday, adding that an internal investigation into the killing is ongoing. "Those responsible will be held accountable."
"The President has no discretion here. He's either complying with the law or breaking it."
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