Saudi Arabia says that journalist Jamal Khashoggi was murdered, blaming a “rogue operation” for a killing that has sparked an international outcry.
Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir told Fox News the act was a “tremendous mistake” and denied the influential crown prince ordered the killing.
Saudi Arabia has been under pressure to explain what happened, having first said Mr Khashoggi was alive.
He was last seen entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on October 2.
Turkish officials believe Mr Khashoggi, a prominent critic of the Saudi government, was murdered by a team of Saudi agents inside the building.
Saudi Arabia initially said he had left the building unharmed but on Friday admitted for the first time he was dead, saying that he was killed in a fight.
That claim though met widespread scepticism.
On Sunday, Turkey’s president Recep Tayyip Erdogan said he would reveal the “naked truth” of the matter in parliament on Tuesday.
Although Turkey has so far stopped short of officially blaming Saudi Arabia for the killing, investigators have said they have audio and video evidence which shows Mr Khashoggi, was killed by a team of Saudi agents inside the consulate.
Police have searched the nearby Belgrad forest in Istanbul where they believe the body may have been taken and one official was hopeful its fate would be known “before long”.
Both the consulate and the residence of the Saudi consul have been searched too.
Reuters reported on Sunday it had spoken to a Saudi official who said Mr Khashoggi had died in a chokehold after resisting attempts to return him to Saudi Arabia. His body was then rolled in a rug and given to a local “co-operator” to dispose of.
A Saudi operative then reportedly donned Mr Khashoggi’s clothes and left the consulate.
The official said Saudi statements had changed because of “false information reported internally at the time”.
