US President Donald Trump yesterday said he had spoken with Saudi King Salman, who “denies any knowledge” of what happened to the Saudi journalist who disappeared after entering the kingdom’s consulate in Istanbul last week.
Trump said he was dispatching US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to the region.
Trump has been under pressure to take action on the suspected murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, a Saudi citizen who has been living and writing in the US, including columns critical of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman.
Turkish officials have said they believe Saudi agents killed and dismembered Khashoggi after he entered the consulate and that Turkey has audio and video recordings of it.
Saudi Arabia has called the allegations “baseless,” but has offered no evidence the writer left the consulate.
Trump tweeted that he “just spoke to the King of Saudi Arabia who denies any knowledge of whatever may have happened ‘to our Saudi Arabian citizen.’ He said that they are working closely with Turkey to find answer. I am immediately sending our Secretary of State to meet with King!”
White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow declined to speculate on what Trump might do after the president promised “severe punishment” in a 60 Minutes interview if the US determines that Khashoggi was indeed killed inside the Saudi consulate.
Saudi Arabia has pledged to economically retaliate for any US punitive action.
Trump has said repeatedly he does not want to halt a proposed US$110 billion arms sale to Saudi Arabia — as some in Congress have suggested — because it would harm the US economically.
“We will take stern action with the Saudis if necessary,” Kudlow said. “The United States is the dominant energy player so we’re in pretty good shape, in my opinion, with our energy boom to cover any shortfalls. We’ll wait and see, but rest assured that when the president says we will take actions if we find out bad outcomes, he means it.”
Kudlow said US Secretary of the Treasury Steven Mnuchin would be attending a previously scheduled Saudi conference this week to address terrorist financing, but those plans could change as details of the investigation become available.
King Salman over the weekend ordered the Saudi public prosecutor to investigate the fate of Khashoggi, partly due to information received from Turkish authorities, a Saudi official said yesterday on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the matter.
While Saudi Arabia and Turkey have already said they would cooperate in a joint investigation, this would be a separate inquiry, the official said.
Saudi Arabian officials were allowing Turkish investigators to enter the consulate yesterday.
A Turkish diplomatic source said it was expected that the joint search with Saudi Arabian authorities would “take place towards the evening.”
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