Mohammed bin Salman, the crown prince of Saudi Arabia, reportedly told the White House that Jamal Khashoggi was a dangerous Islamist in a phone call days after the journalist was murdered.

Crown Prince Mohammed told Jared Kushner, Donald Trump’s son‑in‑law, and John Bolton, the president’s national security advisor, that Khashoggi was a member of the Muslim Brotherhood, according to the Washington Post.

The prince’s private disparagement of the murdered journalist is at odds with his public comments, where he described Khashoggi’s killing as “repulsive” and said it was “very painful for all Saudis”.

His reported comments were made while Saudi Arabia was still claiming that Khashoggi had walked safely out of the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, a story that has now changed several times. 

Saudi Arabia has arrested 18 men on suspicion of killing Khashoggi but denied that Crown Prince Mohammed ordered his death or had any involvement in it.

The chief prosecutor's office in Istanbul said Khashoggi’s body was dismembered after he was strangled as soon as he entered the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.

This was carried out as part of a premeditated plan, according to a statement by the chief prosecutor's office. The statement is the clearest yet from the Turkish authorities about the fate of the Washington Post journalist, whose remains have not yet been found.

[Source : The Telegraph/CNN]