The US President has described the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi as a “total fiasco.”

President Donald Trump said he had spoken with the Saudi King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman yesterday evening.

It comes after the Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the evidence suggests Mr Khashoggi had been brutally murdered and that the killing was ‘definitely pre-meditated.’

After initially denying that the journalist had been killed, Saudi authorities finally acknowledged over the weekend that it was likely he was killed.

President Erdogan said Turkey now expects Saudi authorities to “open-heartedly lay bare all perpetrators - from the highest ranked to lowest - and hold them accountable before the law.”

He described it as a 'political murder', arguing that Saudi authorities blaming it on a 'few security and intelligence officials' will satisfy neither Turkey nor the wider international community.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan

Cover-up

Speaking at the White House last night, President Trump criticised the country's long-term ally for one of the "worst cover-ups in the history of cover-ups."

The president said: "There should have never been an execution or a cover-up, because it should have never happened.”

"It was a total fiasco. The process was no good. The execution was no good. And the cover-up, if you want to call it that, was certainly no good.

"Whoever thought of that idea I think is in big trouble - and they should be in big trouble."

The head of the CIA Gina Haspel travelled to Istanbul to investigate case earlier this week, and President Trump said he will be briefed this afternoon.

He said that he will then “know pretty much everything there is to know."

Investigation

He said President Erdogan has been pretty rough on the Saudi’s in describing it as premeditated murder.

Reports yesterday indicated that parts of Mr Khashoggi’s remains were discovered in the garden of the Saudi consul general's home in Istanbul.

Turkish media have identified a hit squad of 15 people who are alleged to have been involved in the killing and Saudi authorities have arrested 18 people.

Mr Khashoggi was a known critic of the Saudi government and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

Saudi Authorities have insisted that the Crown Prince was not aware of the operation.

Additional reporting IRN ...