Khashoggi’s body was ‘ dissolved in acid’, says Erdogan adviser

“We now see that it wasn't just cut up, they got rid of the body by dissolving it,” Yasin Aktay, an official in Turkey's ruling party, told the Hurriyet newspaper on Friday.

The claim echoed what a Turkish official had earlier told the Washington Post -for which Khashoggi was a contributor -- that authorities are investigating a theory the body was destroyed in acid.

“According to the latest information we have, the reason they cut up the body is it was easier to dissolve it,” said Aktay, an advisor to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan who was close to Khashoggi. “They aimed to ensure no sign of the body was left.”- ' Brutal, barbaric and ruthless'

The Turkish official quoted by the Washington Post said that “biological evidence” found in the consulate's garden indicated the body was likely disposed of near where Khashoggi was killed.

Saudi authorities have denied Turkish police permission to search a well in the consulate's garden, but did allow them to take water samples for analysis, according to local media reports.

TURKISH OFFICIAL said journalist's body was not in need of burying. SAUDI HAS denied Turkish police permission to search a well in the consulate's garden. MURDER HAS placed strain on alliance between the US and Saudi.