DUBAI, Oct 20 (INP): Saudi Arabia on Saturday admitted that US-based dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi died in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul after a fight with people he met there, state media reported.

According to Saudi media, preliminary results of investigations showed that he was murdered inside the consulate, and "the discussions between Jamal Khashoggi and those he met at the kingdom's consulate in Istanbul... devolved into a fistfight, leading to his death," the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) said, citing the public prosecutor.

“The investigations are still underway and 18 Saudi nationals have been arrested,” a statement from the Saudi public prosecutor said, adding Royal court adviser Saud al-Qahtani and deputy intelligence chief Ahmed Asiri have been sacked from their positions.

[timed-content-server show="10/21/2018 01:00 Asia/Karachi"]The Communication and Media Center of the Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs wrote on Twitter that "disappearance of the citizen / Jamal bin Ahmed Khashoggi drew the attention of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia at the highest levels, and the circumstances surrounding his disappearance". "The Kingdom took the necessary procedures to clarify the truth and immediately dispatched an investigation team to Turkey on 6 October 2018 to investigate and cooperate with counterparts in Turkey," it wrote. This, the statement added, "resulted in the formation of the Joint Investigation Team between the Kingdom and the Republic of Turkey and the permission to the Turkish authorities to enter the premisses of the Consulate of the Kingdom in Istanbul and the residence of the consul, for the Kingdom keenness to know all the facts". The Saudi monarch, King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, has also become involved in the matter and issued a decree to investigate the incident. Saudi Arabia’s general prosecutor described early Saturday that there was a ‘fistfight that led to his death’. The fresh confirmation is in flagrant contradiction with what the Crown Prince told Bloomberg a few weeks back that Khashoggi had left the consulate after some time. ‘My understanding is he entered and he got out after a few minutes or one hour. I’m not sure. We are investigating this through the foreign ministry to see exactly what happened at that time,’ he told Bloomberg at the time. When asked to confirm that Khashoggi is not inside the consulate, the 32-year-old crown prince replied, ‘Yes, he’s not inside.’ The Saudi Public Prosecution has "investigated a number of suspects on the basis of information provided by the Turkish authorities to the Joint Investigation Team to determine whether any of them had any information or involvement regarding the incident noting that the information provided to the investigation team indicate that Jamal Khashoggi has left the consulate". The primary probe results, which were made available to the Saudi foreign ministry, state that a suspect flew to Turkey to see Khashoggi after reported "indications" that the US-based journalist would return to his motherland. "The suspect traveled to Istanbul to meet with Jamal Khashoggi after indications appeared the possibility of returning Jamal Khashoggi to the country", the statement added. The talk between Khashoggi and the suspect "did not go as required and escalated negatively which led to a fight between them and the citizen / Jamal Khashoggi, which aggregated the situation and led to his death". According to reports, Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz also ordered the formation of a ministerial committee with Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, as head to restructure general intelligence agency. The committee will include the interior minister, the foreign minister, the head of the intelligence agency and the chief of homeland security. The committee, according to the King´s order, should report to the King within a month. Saudi Arabia, the statement mentioned, expressed "deep regret at the painful outcome" and said it would bring the perpetrators "to justice by referring them to the competent courts in [the] Kingdom". Administration Shaken Up The Oil-rich kingdom has shaken up the administrative set up following the death of Jamal Khashoggi and eighteen Saudis have been arrested in connection with the case including a top intelligence official, Maj. Gen. Ahmed al-Assiri; Saud al-Qahtani, a close aide to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and royal court advisor Abdullah Al-Qahtani. The kingdom has set up a commission to investigate what happened which will put forward its report within a month. The kingdom also said a committee would be formed to restructure its intelligence agency under the supervision of Prince Mohammed to modernize its regulations and define its powers precisely. Saudi Arabia said it is taking the necessary measures to clarify the circumstances in the case of Saudi citizen Jamal Khashoggi and that all those involved will be brought to justice. Trump Reluctant to Take Stern Action Trump on Friday called the arrests a ‘good first step’ but he also mentioned that he would be reluctant to undo arms deals with the kingdom if the U.S. were to slap Saudi Arabia with sanctions over Khashoggi’s death. INP/AJ[/timed-content-server]