Saudi Arabia said, through its state media, that missing journalist Jamal Khashoggi is dead. A preliminary investigation concluded that a fight broke out between Khashoggi and the people who met him at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul which led to his death, Saudi state television said.
The Saudi public prosecutor said that 18 Saudi nationals have been arrested so far and that the investigation is underway.
The news comes after reports the Saudi government is planning on placing the blame for Khashoggi's murder on the deputy chief of the country's intelligence, General Ahmed al-Assiri and that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Saudi Arabia's King Salman spoke on the phone about the progress of their investigations.
