Turkey seeks arrest of MBS's key allies

A Turkish court has issued arrest warrants for two suspects close to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman over the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, raising pressure on the kingdom's de facto leader after two US senators accused him of ordering the hit.

The chief prosecutor's office in Istanbul filed an application on Tuesday to obtain the warrants for Ahmad al-Assiri and Saud al-Qahtani, described in court documents as being "among the planners" of Khashoggi's grisly killing.

Then yesterday, an Istanbul court issued the arrest warrants for Assiri and Qahtani on the charge of "deliberately killing (someone) with monstrous feeling or causing torment".

Assiri, the former deputy head of general intelligence, often sat in during Prince Mohammed's closed-door meetings with visiting foreign dignitaries, while Qahtani was a key counsellor to the crown prince.

Both were sacked after Riyadh admitted Khashoggi was killed in the Saudi consulate.

Saudi Arabia has sought to distance Prince Mohammed from the murder and has received support from the administration of US President Donald Trump, which has downplayed possible links between the crown prince and what happened to Khashoggi.