Funeral prayer held for Khashoggi in Saudi Arabia

RIYADH (AA) - A funeral prayer in absentia was held for slain journalist Jamal Khashoggi at Al-Masjid an-Nabawi in Medina on Friday.

The prayer was offered at dawn with the participation of Salah Khashoggi, son of the Washington Post columnist.

Short videos of the funeral prayer have been shared on Twitter.

According to a Thursday statement by Salah Khashoggi, another prayer will be held in Mecca following Friday prayer.

The family will accept condolences at their residence in Jeddah from Friday to Sunday.

Also, a prayer will be held for the journalist in Istanbul.

Khashoggi, a frequent contributor to The Washington Post, was killed Oct. 2 inside the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul.

After weeks of denying any involvement in the crime, Saudi Arabia later admitted that Khashoggi had been killed inside the consulate but claimed the Saudi royal family had no prior knowledge of any plot to murder the journalist.

His body has yet to be returned to his family amid reports that it was chemically dissolved.