'Utter bullshit': Khashoggi editor slams Saudi narrative of journalist's murder

The editor of murdered journalist Jamal Khashoggi has cast serious doubts over the official Saudi narrative of his death in the kingdom's consulate in Istanbul.

Karen Attiah, The Washington Post's global opinions editor, took to Twitter on Saturday to condemn the Saudi claims he was killed in a heated fist-fight as "utter bullshit".

"Two weeks later, and this is the best explanation they could give? It's almost insulting," Attiah said.

"Khashoggi was a 60 year old man. What sort of equal 'fight' would he have had against 15 other men? And who brings a bone saw to a 'discussion'?!"

"We are supposed to believe, that Mohammed Bin Salman had no knowledge of this, even though his right hand man has been implicated," she added.

On Saturday, Riyadh finally admitted that the critical writer was killed inside its Istanbul consulate, claiming he died during a "row" - an explanation that has been widely panned as implausible.

The admission came after over week weeks of vehement denials and claims that Riyadh was the victim of an orchestrated media smear campaign.

Saudi media even attacked Attiah, accusing her of penning Khashoggi's last column published in the US newspaper.

In a note affixed to the top of the column, Attiah said she received the essay from Khashoggi's translator and assistant a day after he was reported missing.

Khashoggi, a Post contributor and critic of Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman, was last seen on October 2 entering his country's consulate in Istanbul.

His disappearance had been shrouded in mystery and tipped Saudi Arabia into one of its worst international crises, with Turkish officials accusing it of carrying out a state-sponsored killing and dismembering the body