More than two weeks after Jamal Khashoggi's disappearance from the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul, Saudi Arabia said late Friday that the journalist was killed in an altercation in the diplomatic facility.

The official confirmation of Khashoggi’s death, following mounting international pressure and a steady drip of leaks from Turkish sources, will come with a house-cleaning of top leadership, the Saudi Attorney General's office said in a statement. Riyadh had maintained until now that Khashoggi left the consulate safely Oct. 2 and that it had no idea of his whereabouts.

In all, 18 Saudis have been arrested in connection with Khashoggi’s case, though none were immediately identified.

p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 18.0px Calibri; color: #323333; -webkit-text-stroke: #323333} span.s1 {font-kerning: none} span.s2 {text-decoration: underline ; font-kerning: none; color: #042eee; -webkit-text-stroke: 0px #042eee} “The preliminary investigations conducted by the Public Prosecution showed that the suspect[s] had travelled to Istanbul to meet with ... Khashoggi as there were indications of the possibility of his returning back to the country,” the kingdom said in a statement carried by the official Saudi News Agency. "The results of the preliminary investigations also revealed that the discussions [between Khashoggi and the suspects] did not go as required and developed in a negative way [and] led to a fight and a quarrel [and] the brawl aggravated to lead to his death and their attempt to conceal and cover what happened.”