Pompeo heard Turkey's recording of Khashoggi death in Saudi consulate: Report

Turkey shared a recording of journalist Jamal Khashoggi’s death with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo during his visit to the country, ABC News reported late Thursday, citing an unidentified official familiar with the exchange.

Still, the State Department said in an email reply to ABC News that Pompeo had not heard the recording.

"The secretary addressed this yesterday. He has not heard a tape," spokeswoman Heather Nauert said.

When asked if Pompeo had received a transcript of the recording, she added: "I don't have anything on that."

Pompeo declined to say on Wednesday when asked whether he had heard the recording. "I don’t have anything to say about that," he replied.

Khashoggi, a Saudi insider-turned-critic, was last seen on 2 October entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. Turkish officials say they believe he was killed inside the building.

Saudi officials have vehemently denied any involvement in Khashoggi's disappearance and say that he left the consulate soon after arriving. However, they have not presented any evidence to corroborate their claim and say that video cameras at the consulate were not recording at the time.

Earlier on Thursday, Pompeo said he told Trump that the US should give the Saudis "a few more days" to complete their investigation into Khashoggi's case "so we can get a complete understanding" of the facts.

After that, "we can make a decision about how the United States should respond to the issues surrounding Mr Khashoggi", Pompeo told reporters.

US President Donald Trump reversed course on Thursday, saying it “certainly looks like” Khashoggi is dead", after remaining noncommittal about his status for days.