Prince Mohammed, the kingdom's de facto ruler, has come under huge international pressure after the US-based writer was killed and dismembered in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.

'I am extremely angry and unhappy' about the murder of Jamal Khashoggi at Saudi's consulate in Istanbul, US President Donald Trump said.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will continue to press the Saudis on Khashoggi's murder when he visits Riyadh next week as part of an eight-country tour of the Middle East.

The hearing comes after mounting pressure from international leaders over a fair and transparent trial into Khashoggi's murder that took place in Turkey in October 2018.

'It's natural for people to try and associate any developments with the Khashoggi tragedy but its difficult to see any of these specific changes as resulting specifically from that', tweeted Ali Shihabi, head of The Arabia Foundation.

Khashoggi was killed in what U.S. officials have described as an elaborate plot at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, which he had visited for marriage paperwork.

The US President made it clear that the audio recording, supplied by the Turkish government, would not affect his response to the October 2 killing of Khashoggi, a columnist for The Washington Post who had been critical of the Saudi royal family.

Khashoggi was a prominent journalist who has often been critical of the Saudi Arabian government.

Trump also said that there must be some kind of sanction imposed on those responsible for what occurred.

Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi who died after entering the kingdom's consulate in Istanbul has led to outrage at a level unseen in years against the kingdom.