International skepticism has intensified since Saudi Arabia said last week that Khashoggi died in a brawl. (AP Photo)
Murdered journalist Jamal Khashoggi's body parts have been found, a media report claimed on Tuesday. The Sky News reported that Khashoggi's dismembered body parts were found in the garden of the Saudi consul general's home.
Khashoggi's body was 'cut up' and his face was 'disfigured', the British media outlet claimed.
The report about Jamal Khashoggi's body parts being found comes after Turkey president Recep Tayyip Erdogan contradicted Saudi Arabia's explanation that the writer/journalist was accidentally killed.
He demanded that the kingdom reveal the identities of all involved, regardless of rank.
Erdogan also said he wants Saudi Arabia to allow 18 suspects that it detained for the Saudi's killing to be tried in Turkish courts, setting up further complications with the Saudi government, which has said it is conducting its own investigation and will punish those involved.
"To blame such an incident on a handful of security and intelligence members would not satisfy us or the international community," Erdogan said in a speech to ruling party lawmakers in parliament.
"Saudi Arabia has taken an important step by admitting the murder. As of now we expect of them to openly bring to light those responsible — from the highest ranked to the lowest — and to bring them to justice," the Turkish president said.
Erdogan's speech was previously pitched as revealing the "naked truth" about Khashoggi's slaying. Instead it served merely to put a named source to information already circulated by anonymous officials and the Turkish press in the days since the columnist for The Washington Post walked into the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.
However, he kept pressure on the kingdom with his demands for Turkish prosecution of the suspects as well as punishment for the plot's masterminds.
"All evidence gathered shows that Jamal Khashoggi was the victim of a savage murder. To cover up such a savagery would hurt the human conscience," he said.
Erdogan didn't mention Saudi Arabia's assertive Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in his speech, though officials linked to the royal have been implicated in the killing. The kingdom has said the heir-apparent of the world's top oil exporter was not involved, but any major decision must be signed off by the highest powers within its ruling Al Saud family.
International skepticism has intensified since Saudi Arabia said on Saturday that Khashoggi died in a brawl.
The case has shocked the world and raised suspicions that a Saudi hit squad planned Khashoggi's killing after he walked into the consulate on October 2, and then attempted to cover it up.
(With inputs from AP)
