The Saudi intelligence team that was sent to Turkey ahead of Jamal Khashoggi’s arrival at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul earlier this month originally intended to keep him against his will for up to two days to convince him to return to Saudi Arabia, according to a report Tuesday.

Saudi officials say that they planned to keep Khashoggi, a Washington Post columnist and outspoken critic of the Saudi government, at a safe house in Turkey in an attempt to sway Khashoggi into returning to the kingdom, NBC News reports. However, no proof was provided to the outlet to back up the Saudis' claims.

Saudi Arabia admitted Friday that Khashoggi had been killed and said he died in an interrogation that “developed in a negative way, leading to a fistfight.”

NBC News reported Monday that Saudi Prince Khalid bin Salman, the ambassador to the U.S., and senior adviser Saud bin Abdullah Al Qahtani had tried to convince Khashoggi to return to his home country for at least a year. Khashoggi had been presented with several job offers, but turned them down because he was concerned he would face prison or worse.

Khashoggi also met with Prince Khalid, the brother of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, at the Saudi Embassy in Washington, D.C., in late 2017 or early 2018.

Khashoggi disappeared on Oct. 2 after entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul to receive paperwork for his upcoming wedding to his Turkish fiancee. The Saudi government is carrying out an investigation into the incident and has fired five Saudi officials and arrested 18 others.

On Sunday, the Saudi Foreign Minister Adel Al-Jubeir denied Crown Prince Mohammed knew anything about Khashoggi's death, contradicting Turkish government reports. Turkish officials claim to have audio that reveals Khashoggi was killed and dismembered by the 15-member Saudi team in the consulate.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan claimed in a speech Tuesday that Khashoggi’s death was intentional.

“Saudi Arabia took an important step by accepting the murder. After this, we expect them to reveal those responsible for this matter. We have information that the murder is not instant, but planned,” Erdogan said.

U.S. officials claim that American intelligence agencies do not believe that the crown prince had zero involvement in Khashoggi’s death, but have admitted they do not have a “smoking gun” giving away his role in the murder, according to NBC News.