Saudi Arabia prosecutor seeks death for 5 accused in Jamal Khashoggi killing

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates -- Saudi Arabia's top prosecutor is recommending the death penalty for five suspects charged with ordering and carrying out the killing of Saudi writer Jamal Khashoggi. Saudi Al-Mojeb told journalists in a rare press conference in Riyadh on Thursday that Khashoggi's killers had set in motion plans for the killing on Sept. 29, three days before he was killed inside the kingdom's consulate in Istanbul.

The prosecutor said the highest-level official behind the killing was Saudi former deputy intelligence chief Ahmad al-Assiri, who has been fired for ordering Khashoggi's forced return. The prosecutor made no mention of the man who many have accused of ordering the murder, the Saudi king's son Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. Al-Assiri is thought to have been very close to the crown prince.

The prosecutor said 21 people were in custody, with 11 indicted and referred to trial.

CBS News correspondent Holly Williams reported on Thursday the Saudi prosecutor also gave the kingdom's first official acknowledgement that Khashoggi's body was dismembered after he was killed inside the consulate -- though that is what Turkish officials have been saying for weeks.