SUSPICIOUS SAUDIS BLOW US STRATEGY

THE disappearance last week of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi has rocked US President Donald Trump’s whole Middle East strategy.

Trump has made Saudi Arabia his closest ally in the Muslim Middle East and has formed a strong bond with the new Saudi ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

Journalists praised bin Salman for allowing Saudi women to drive cars. He also cracked down on hard-line Islamists.

But the crown prince was meanwhile smashing internal critics, and journalists were jailed, which forced Khashoggi to flee to exile in Turkey.

Khashoggi warned in his regular Washington Post columns that the crown prince was fooling the world.

Last Tuesday, at 1pm, he walked into the Saudi consulate in Istanbul to pick up documents confirming his divorce.

Twelve hours later, his Turkish fiancee rang the consulate and was told Khashoggi had left.

But Turkish police checked security cameras and found no footage of him coming out.

The Saudis deny killing or kidnapping Khashoggi and allowed Turkey to search the consulate.

This could destroy Trump’s close relationship with bin Salman. It’s one thing to be the ally of a reformer, but quite another to be in bed with a bloody tyrant.