The CIA has a recording of a phonecall in which Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman gave instructions to "silence Jamal Khashoggi as soon as possible", a Turkish news website has reported.

Gina Haspel, CIA director, is said to have revealed the existence of a wiretapped call between Prince Mohammed and his brother Khaled bin Salman, who is Saudi’s ambassador to the US, to Turkish officials during a visit to Ankara last month, according to Hurriyet.

“It is said that the crown prince gave an instruction to silence Jamal Khashoggi as soon as possible and this instruction was captured during the CIA wiretapping,” Hurriyet columnist Abdulkadir Selvi wrote on Thursday. “The subsequent murder is the ultimate confirmation of this instruction.”

The brothers are reportedly heard talking about the "discomfort" caused by the Washington Post columnist's criticism of the kingdom's administration.

A Turkish official contacted by Reuters said he had no information about such a recording.

Khashoggi, a prominent critic of Prince Mohammed, was killed on Oct. 2 inside the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul.