The US Vice-President Mike Pence has said that the United States would hold the murderers of Jamal Khashoggi to account.
The comments come after reports that the CIA believed the Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman was involved in the plot to murder the journalist.
"The United States is determined to hold all of those accountable who are responsible for that murder," Mr Pence said on the sidelines of an APEC summit in Papua New Guinea.
Mr Khashoggi was killed after he entered the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on 2 October. Turkey claims his murder was 'savagely planned'.
The Vice-President described the Saudi journalist's killing as an "atrocity" and an "affront to a free and independent press" but declined to comment on classified information.
Yesterday, family and friends of Jamal Khashoggi held funeral prayers for him in both Saudi Arabia and Turkey.
If confirmed, the US assessment would directly contradict the conclusions of a Saudi prosecutor a day earlier, which exonerated the prince of involvement in the brutal murder.
And it would threaten to further damage relations between Washington and Riyadh, which has sought to end discussion of the murder and rejected calls for an international investigation.
Mike Pence said: "We are going to follow the facts."
But he also added the US wanted to find a way of preserving a "strong and historic partnership" with Saudi Arabia.
