WASHINGTON 21 Oct (ANA) - US President Donald Trump says he is "not satisfied" with Saudi Arabia's account of the death of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

 

On Friday, Saudi Arabia for the first time admitted that Mr Khashoggi was dead, saying he was killed in a "fist fight" in its Istanbul consulate.

 

But that explanation has met with scepticism.

 

Turkish officials believe Mr Khashoggi - a critic of the Saudi government - was murdered and his body dismembered.

 

"I'm not satisfied until we find the answer," Mr Trump said, adding that sanctions were a possibility, but that halting an arms deal would "hurt us more than it would hurt them".

 

Mr Trump said it was "possible" that the powerful Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman did not know about the killing.

 

Until Friday, Saudi Arabia had denied knowledge of his whereabouts and insisted he had left the building alive.

 

Turkey has vowed to reveal all details about how Mr Khashoggi was killed.

 

Publicly Turkey has so far stopped short of blaming Saudi Arabia for the killing. Turkish investigators, however, say they have audio and video evidence which shows Mr Khashoggi was killed by a team of Saudi agents inside the consulate.

 

Police have been searching the consulate, the consul's residence, as well as a nearby forest, where officials believe his body may have been disposed of.

 

The kingdom said a fight broke out between Mr Khashoggi, who had fallen out of favour with the Saudi government, and people who met him in the consulate - ending with his death.

 

It says investigations are under way, and so far 18 Saudi nationals have been arrested.(ANA)

FA/ANA/21 October 2018-