SAUDI King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman called the son of slain journalist Jamal Khashoggi to express their condolences, the Saudi Press Agency said.

The state-run press agency confirmed the telephone exchange to Mr Khashoggi’s son Salah — who spoke with the men separately.

It’s claimed the calls were made one day after Saudi Arabia revealed that Mr Khashoggi was allegedly killed in a “fistfight” inside the Saudi consulate in Instanbul.

Saudi authorities confessed that Mr Khashoggi was killed inside their diplomatic compound in after denying any knowledge of the disappearance for the past two weeks.

Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump has announced he believes Mr Khashoggi’s death was a “plot gone awry.”

The US is sending CIA director Gina Haspel to Turkey to work on the investigation, sources told Reuters, after Mr Trump said he has “top intelligence” there.

Saudi Arabia has called the killing a “huge and grave mistake” but has sought to protect the crown prince, saying he had no knowledge of it when it happened.

The kingdom has given multiple conflicting accounts of what happened to the journalist inside the consulate on October 2.

“This was an operation that was a rogue operation. This was an operation where individuals ended up exceeding the authorities and responsibilities they had,” Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir said.

Speaking with Fox News, he insisted the killing was not ordered by the crown prince (MBS) and he also declared: “we don’t know where the body is”.

‘NAKED TRUTH’
Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan says he will reveal the ‘naked truth’ about what happened to Mr Khashoggi this week.

“We are looking for justice here and this will be revealed in all its naked truth, not through some ordinary steps but in all its naked truth,” President Erdogan told a rally in Istanbul.

Erdogan says he will “go into detail” about the case, which has been veiled in mystery and scepticism as the world’s powers demand a credible version of events.

It’s Erdogan’s strongest comments to date about the killing of the Washington Post columnist, who had fallen out of favour with Saudi Arabia.

President Erdogan has yet to blame the Saudis, but in a phone call with Donald Trump both agreed that the death of Mr Khashoggi needed to be clarified “in all aspects” — a Turkish presidential source told AFP.

Erdogan s expected to deliver his findings to parliament about 0800 GMT (6pm AEDT) on Tuesday.

HITMAN DRESSED IN JOURNALIST’S CLOTHES
According to Reuters, an anonymous Saudi official claimed Saudi nationals were sent to confront the journalist and had threatened him with being drugged and kidnapped. This official claimed he was then killed when he resisted.

A member of the team then reportedly dressed in Mr Khashoggi’s clothes to make it appear as though he had left the consulate.

Turkey believes 15 Saudi men who arrived in Istanbul on two flights on October 2 — the day the journalist went to the consulate and never came out — are connected to Mr Khashoggi’s death.

They claim a ‘Saudi hit squad’ travelled to Turkey to kill the journalist before leaving hours later in private jets.

“Why did these 15 people come here? Why were 18 people arrested? All of this needs to be explained in all its details,” Mr Erdogan said.

The Saudis refute this story, claiming one of the people Turkey suspects is involved had died in a car accident years ago.

The Saudis initially said Mr Khashoggi left the consulate unharmed before coming out and admitting that he was killed inside the building.

They now say the journalist died in a “brawl” and said five top officials had been fired and 18 others had been arrested in their investigation into the killing.

Turkey says Riyadh carried out a state-sponsored killing and dismembered the journalist’s body, with pro-government media in Turkey reporting the existence of video and audio evidence to back those claims.

Istanbul’s chief prosecutor has summoned 28 staff members of the Saudi consulate, including Turkish citizens and foreign nationals, to give testimony on Monday, state broadcaster TRT reports.

Turkish news agency Anadolu Agency also reported that Khashoggi’s fiancee, Hatice Cengiz, has been given 24-hour police protection.

Ms Cengiz was waiting outside the consulate for her partner when he failed to return.

TRUMP SAYS CROWN PRINCE NOT INVOLVED
President Donald Trump said Monday he’s not satisfied with the explanations he’s heard about the death of Saudi writer Jamal Khashoggi and is awaiting reports from US personnel returning from the region

Asked if he believed Saudi Arabia’s explanation, Trump said, “I am not satisfied with what I’ve heard.” “We’re going to get to the bottom of it. We have people over in Saudi Arabia now. We have top intelligence people in Turkey. They’re coming back either tonight or tomorrow,” Trump told reporters in Texas.

“We’re going to know a lot over the next two days about the Saudi situation,” said Trump. “It’s a very sad thing.” Trump spoke with the crown prince and later told USA Today:

“He says he is not involved nor is the king.”

President Trump said there’s been deception and lies over the killing, referring to the story changes offered by the Saudis since it happened.

“Their stories are all over the place.”

Several senior members from camp Trump have said they believe the crown prince is linked to the killing. One has even called for a “collective” response from western countries if that link is proven to be true.

President Trump has emphasised how important the US-Saudi relationship is to Washington’s strategic goals.

He has praised the crown prince as a “strong person … he has very good control” and someone who is “seen as a person who can keep things under check.”

AUSTRALIA BOYCOTTS SAUDI FORUM
Mr Khashoggi would have been 60 this month. He had self-exiled to the US after fleeing his native Saudi Arabia in 2017 after the appointment of strongman Mohammed bin Salman as heir to the throne.

The journalist, who had espoused both Islamist and liberal views throughout his decades-long career in the press, was engaged to a Turkish woman.

His killing has further soured relations between Saudi Arabia and Turkey.

The countries were already at loggerheads over Qatar — Which Riyadh cut ties with in 2017, while Ankara has deployed aid and troops there.

Yesterday Australia’s Prime Minister Scott Morrison said he expected the Saudis to co-operate with Turkey on the case.

“Australia will stand with all other like-minded countries in condemning this death, this killing and we expect there to be full co-operation,” he said.

“We expect the truth to be determined through that process and those responsible to be held accountable.”

Australia has also opted to boycott next week’s Future Investment Initiative forum in Saudi Arabia, in response to the killing.

Trade Minister Simon Birmingham said the “government has sent a strong signal” to the kingdom.

JOURNALIST ‘TROLLED’ ON TWITTER
Amid the conflicting stories about Mr Khashoggi, it’s also emerged that Saudi Arabia deployed an ‘online army’ to harass the journalist and other critics of the kingdom — according to the New York Times.

Their efforts were allegedly to sway public opinion against influential critics.

The Times claims this was carried out by a so-called ‘troll farm’ based in Riyadh and a

suspected spy within Twitter that the kingdom used to monitor user accounts. Twitter has declined to comment on this.

UNITED FRONT IN DEMAND FOR ANSWERS
Mr Khashoggi’s death has blown up into a crisis for the crown prince whose image as a modernising Arab reformer has been gravely undermined.

Britain, France and Germany have united to demand the Saudis tell the full story about the journalist’s killing and back it up with “credible” facts.

As well as Australia, Canada, the United Nations and the European Union have also weighed into demand answers.

Germany has put the brakes on exporting arms to Saudi Arabia “in the current situation.”

Last month Germany approved 416 million euros ($A673 million) worth of arms exports to Saudi Arabia for 2018.

President Trump had also talked about possible punishment for the Saudis but said he didn’t want to halt a proposed $US110 billion arms sale to Saudi Arabia because, he maintained, it would harm US manufacturers.

Leading US Senate Republican Bob Corker said the Saudi’s story about Mr Khashoggi was not credible and accused the crown prince of crossing a line.

“There has to be a punishment and a price paid for that,” Senator Corker said.

He backed his view with a firm tweet stating:

“The story the Saudis have told about Jamal Khashoggi’s disappearance continues to change with each passing day, so we should not assume their latest story holds water.”