Journalist Jamal Khashoggi was killed in a fight in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, the country’s state TV reports, quoting an initial inquiry.
Deputy intelligence chief Ahmad al-Assiri and Saud al-Qahtani, senior aide to Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman, were sacked over the affair, it says.
US President Donald Trump said what had happened was “unacceptable” but added that Saudi Arabia was a “great ally”.
This is the first time the kingdom has admitted Mr Khashoggi is dead.
The acknowledgement follows two weeks of denials that Saudi Arabia had any involvement in the disappearance of the prominent Saudi critic when he entered the consulate in Istanbul on 2 October to seek paperwork for his forthcoming marriage.
The Saudi kingdom had come under increased pressure to explain Mr Khashoggi’s disappearance after Turkish officials said he had been deliberately killed inside the consulate, and his body dismembered.
On Friday, Turkish police widened their search from the consulate grounds to a nearby forest where unnamed officials believe his body may have been disposed of.
Observers are questioning whether Riyadh’s Western allies will find the Saudis’ account of a “botched rendition” convincing – and whether it will persuade them not to take punitive action against Saudi Arabia.
What is Saudi Arabia’s version of events?
A statement from Saudi Arabia’s public prosecutor says 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.
Investigations are still under way, it says, and 18 Saudi nationals have been arrested. The Saudi authorities have yet to give evidence to support this version of events.
Unnamed officials speaking to Reuters news agency and the New York Times say the Saudis did not know the whereabouts of the body after it was handed to a “local collaborator” to dispose of.
Source: BBC
