The death of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi is deeply troubling, says former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak.

“I am deeply concerned and troubled with the death of the journalist at the consulate in Istanbul, and hope the Saudi government will give its full support to the investigation,” Najib said in a Facebook post today.

Khashoggi, a Washington Post columnist and a sharp critic of Saudi crown prince Mohammed bin Salman, died on Oct 2 when he went to the Saudi consulate in Istanbul to collect his marriage papers.

Turkish officials claimed that Khashoggi was set upon by Saudi operatives upon entering the consulate, and was murdered and dismembered.

Saudi officials initially denied knowledge of Khashoggi’s death, but later claimed that he was killed in a fight in the consulate.

The incident sparked international outcry and a diplomatic crisis for the kingdom.

According to Reuters, Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan dismissed attempts by Riyadh to blame rogue operatives for the "savage" killing, saying the person who ordered it must be brought to account.

Erdogan added that the whereabouts of Khashoggi’s body are still unknown, and demanded Saudi Arabia reveal the identity of a “local cooperator” who purportedly took the body.

Several news reports claimed that the journalist's remains were discovered in the garden of the Saudi consul's home, located near the consulate. This was later denied by Turkish police, however.

Yesterday, Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad described the killing as an extreme and unacceptable act of tyranny.

“We all have someone we dislike, but we cannot simply kill him because we don’t like him. I used to be hated by many, and if we had the same system as Saudi Arabia’s, I probably won’t be here talking to you today.

“Alhamdulillah, we don’t see such acts of tyranny here in our country,” Bernama quoted him as saying.

KSCIP should have continued

On another matter, Najib maintained that the collaboration with Saudi Arabia to set up the King Salman Centre for International Peace should have continued because it would help efforts to combat extremism and terrorism.

“The centre has always been meant for regional peace and security, aspects that we are proud of, manageable and can be operationalised from here.

“I regret its cancellation, as I believe it would be good for Malaysia.

"And if there is anything that is counter to our interest, we can still make the necessary intervention,” he said, stressing that the cancellation had come long before Khashoggi’s murder.

The project was proposed by King Salman Abdulaziz Al Saud during his visit to Malaysia last year. Defence Minister Mohamad Sabu announced its cancellation in August.

Twenty-five of the 32 charges Najib is currently facing are related to 1MDB.

Of these, 21 charges pertain to the US$681 million (RM2.08 billion) transferred into his personal bank account, which he claimed he received from the Saudi royal family to finance BN's campaign for the 13th general election.

How the man behind Khashoggi murder ran the killing via Skype