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This article is more than 1 year old

The eldest son of the murdered journalist Jamal Khashoggi has left Saudi Arabia, sources close to the family have said, as the Saudi public prosecutor’s office suggested for the first time that the writer’s killing was premeditated, contradicting the country’s previous claims.

Salah Khashoggi’s ashen face struck a chord with millions worldwide this week after he was summoned to receive condolences from Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman – the man many believe ordered the assassination of his father.

The younger Khashoggi, who holds dual Saudi-US citizenship, has been barred from travelling outside the kingdom in recent months. He left the country for the US with his family late on Wednesday.

The US secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, had discussed Khashoggi’s son’s situation during his recent visit to Riyadh and “made it clear” to Saudi leaders that Washington wanted him free to leave the kingdom, the state department spokesman Robert Palladino said on Thursday.

Salah Khashoggi’s departure came just before Riyadh authorities said new information from Turkey had come to light indicating that the dissident journalist’s death at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul was premeditated, contradicting Riyadh’s previous claims that Khashoggi was killed by accident and his death covered up by rogue operatives.

Play Video 1:58 Saudi crown prince says justice will prevail in Khashoggi case - video

Prosecutors were interrogating suspects on the basis of information provided by a joint Saudi-Turkish taskforce, a statement from the official Saudi Press Agency said on Thursday.

Riyadh initially denied it had anything to do with the journalist’s disappearance after he visited the diplomatic mission to pick up paperwork on 2 October. More than two weeks later it said Khashoggi had been killed accidentally in a fight with Saudi officials who had embarked on an unsanctioned extradition operation.

Saudi Arabia’s shifting story has been met with scepticism by Ankara and much of the rest of the international community. The new admission raises further questions as to who in the Saudi establishment had the authority to order an international assassination operation.

Riyadh has taken great pains to distance the crown prince from any responsibility for Khashoggi’s murder after it emerged several members of his personal guard and other trusted officials were involved.

Also on Thursday, the Saudi Press Agency said the crown prince had presided over the first meeting of a new committee to restructure the command of the country’s general intelligence agency in light of the killing.

Addressing the matter in public for the first time on Wednesday, the prince called Khashoggi’s death heinous and painful, vowing that justice would be delivered.

Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, said this week that Turkish investigators had clear evidence Khashoggi was murdered in a premeditated, political crime.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Turkish forensic teams have searched the Saudi consulate and the consul general’s official residence as well as vehicles belonging to the consulate. Photograph: Lefteris Pitarakis/AP

Police believe Khashoggi was tortured before his death and his body dismembered. His remains, which Riyadh says were wrapped in a rug and disposed of by a “local collaborator”, have not been found.

It is believed Turkish authorities are in possession of powerful audio evidence, captured either from bugging the consulate or hacking Saudi officials’ communications, that proves Khashoggi was murdered.

The Washington Post reported on Wednesday that Gina Haspel, the CIA director, had been played the tapes during a visit to Ankara this week – the first indication Turkey has shared the sensitive evidence with foreign parties.

Haspel briefed Donald Trump about her trip on Thursday, although the White House did not release any details of their meeting.

The German chancellor, Angela Merkel, said she spoke with King Salman in a phone call on Thursday night, warning her country was prepared to take “appropriate measures together with international partners” following Khashoggi’s death, without elaborating.



She called on Saudi Arabia to “ensure a swift, transparent and credible investigation” and hold those responsible to account.

In Istanbul, Turkish investigators called off for a second time a new search of the Saudi consul general’s home and garden, after permission was once again denied by their Saudi counterparts to investigate a well on the property.

A water sample from the site did not test positive for Khashoggi’s DNA, Turkish media said on Friday.

Police believe the journalist’s remains were driven to the nearby residence from the consulate and possibly disposed of there.