Forced to be friendly to the man who likely ordered his father's killing

Cameramen from the state-run Saudi Press Agency captured the meeting with Khashoggi's son Salah, held at the royal palace. Most observers say the meeting was likely not voluntary, while others on Twitter highlighted Salah's 'terrified' and 'angry' expression when shaking hands with MbS - who many believe to be behind the killing of Khashoggi.

The SPA report said King Salman and MbS offered their condolences to the family of the Saudi journalist.

Khashoggi - a Washington Post contributor and critic of the crown prince - was killed after entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on October 2.

After more than two weeks of vehemently denying Khashoggi was dead and insisting he left the consulate unharmed, the Saudi government on Saturday admitted he was killed in a "fist fight" inside the building, but claimed the murder was not state-sanctioned.

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Before Riyadh's admission, Turkish sources said a team of 15 Saudi agents were sent to Istanbul and killed Khashoggi before departing from the capital that day.

The hit squad reportedly tortured Khashoggi, cut his fingers off and decapitated him with a bone saw brought from Saudi Arabia for that purpose, according to Turkish media.

Several of the 15-person team have close ties to Saudi Arabia's security services and to the crown prince, including his personal bodyguard Abdulaziz Mohammed al-Hawsawi as well a forensics expert, Salah al-Tubaigy. 

Khashoggi was a US resident and had lived in self-imposed exile in Virginia since 2017, shortly after MbS was appointed heir to the Saudi throne.

Rights campaigners have called on the Trump administration to lobby Saudi Arabia to lift a travel ban on Khashoggi's son.

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