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A Saudi hit squad used acid to decompose murdered journalist Jamal Khashoggi's body in the Saudi consul-general's residence in Istanbul, sources close to the Turkish prosecutor's office said.

The sources on Thursday that Turkish investigators believe that Khashoggi's body was "totally eliminated with acid" and that continuing to search for his remains is "worthless".

The sources said that traces of hydrofluoric acid and other chemicals have been found in a well at Consul General Mohammed al-Otaibi's home in Istanbul.

Sources London-based Middle East Eye that the prosecutor's office has called for an Islamic prayer for the dead, which is performed in cases of missing bodies.

The reports come days after Khashoggi's sons appealed for Saudi authorities to recover their father's body so that he could be buried in the holy city of Medina. 

"All what we want right now is to bury him in al-Baqi [cemetery] within Medina with the rest of his family," Salah Khashoggi said.

Khashoggi was killed inside the kingdom's consulate in Istanbul by a team sent from Riyadh on October 2, a murder Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said was ordered from "the highest levels" of Saudi Arabia's government.

After weeks of denials, Saudi officials admitted the murder was planned but have so far declined to release details of the whereabouts of the 59-year-old journalist's body.