World leaders are calling for answers from Saudi Arabia after the kingdom admitted dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi was killed inside its Istanbul consulate.
Riyadh has claimed the Washington Post reporter died in a “brawl” at the building, a version of events that has been widely disputed.
Saudi authorities are coming under increasing international pressure to disclose what took place after Khashoggi entered the consulate on 2 October.
Germany will halt arm exports to Saudi Arabia until Jamal Khashoggi's death has been explained and those responsible for his death have been brought to justice, Angela Merkel has said.
Speaking during a regional election campaign rally, the chancellor said: "First, we condemn this act in the strongest terms.
"Second, there is an urgent need to clarify what happened - we are far from this having been cleared up and those responsible held to account. As far as arms exports are concerned, those can't take place in the current circumstances."
Saudi Arabia is one of the biggest buyers of German arms.
Earlier, Germany's foreign minister Heiko Maas had said there was "no basis" for arms exports to the Saudis continue while the circumstances of Khashoggi's death remained unclear.
A leading Republican senator has said he believes Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman was responsible for Jamal Khashoggi's death.
Senator Bob Corker, chairman of the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee, told CNN: "Do I think he did it? Yes, I think he did it."
Corker told politics programme State of the Union that "has to be a punishment" if investigations show bin Salman was behind the journalist's killing.
"Let's let this play out, but my guess is that at the end of the day the United States and the rest of the world will believe fully that he did it," Corker said.
His comments come after Donald Trump, who initially indicated he believed the Saudi regime's denial of involvement, joined calls from other Western leaders for answers.
Corker said the Saudis had "lost all credibility as it relates to explaining what's happened".
Saudi Arabia's foreign minister has said officials investigating Jamal Khashoggi's death do not yet know exactly how he died or where his remains are.
Adel Al-Jubeir's comments, in an interview with Fox News, would appear to be at odds with the Saudi regime's official explanation that the journalist died in a "fist fight" at the country's Istanbul consulate.
"He was killed in the consulate. We don't know in terms of details how. We don't know where the body is," the minister said. "We are determined to uncover every stone... We are determined to punish those who are responsible for this murder."
Jubeir is the first senior Saudi official to speak on the record since the regime admitted on Saturday that Khashoggi was dead.
Speaking to Fox News host Bret Baier, he described Khashoggi's death as a "huge and grave mistake" and promised the journalist's family that those responsible will be punished.
He said: "This is a terrible mistake. This is a terrible tragedy. Our condolences go out to them. We feel their pain.
"Unfortunately, a huge and grave mistake was made and I assure them that those responsible will be held accountable for this."
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Turkish authorities investigating Khashoggi’s death suspect the journalist was tortured and then murdered by a team of hit men before his body was cut up and disposed of.
An anonymous Saudi official has claimed Riyadh was trying to convince Khashoggi to return to his homeland by offering him a lucrative job as incentive to stop his criticism of the regime.
He then suggested the situation escalated into a fight, which ended in the reporter’s death.
However, this account has been disputed, with questions raised over why a doctor reported to be an expert in forensic medicine was among the 15 men thought to have confronted Khashoggi.
Donald Trump, who initially said he believed the Saudi account, has now said the US wants to get to the bottom of what took place inside the consulate.
In Europe, German chancellor Angela Merkel has described the Saudi explanation of Khashoggi’s death as “inadequate”, while her foreign minister has said Berlin will reassess its arms sales to the kingdom.
Britain said on Saturday it was examining its “next steps” after Riyadh announced confirmation of the journalist’s death.
