Trump warns of ‘ punishment’ if Khashoggi killed by Saudi
Washington,
Oct. 13: US
President Donald Trump has warned that Washington will inflict “severe punishment” if it’s found that missing journalist Jamal Khashoggi has been murdered by Saudi Arabia.
The Saudi critic has not been seen since he walked into the kingdom’s consulate in Istanbul on October 2, with Turkish officials accusing Riyadh of murdering him inside the diplomatic mission.
“We’re going to get to the bottom of it and there will be severe punishment,” Mr Trump
told CBS’s 60 Minutes programme. “As of this moment, they deny it and they deny it vehemently. Could it be them? Yes,” Mr Trump said when asked about the Khashoggi issue. Mr Trump added the matter was especially important “because this man was a reporter.”
The President said he was not keen to limit arms sales to the kingdom. “They are ordering military equipment. Everybody in the world wanted that order… We got it … I’ll tell you what I don’t want to do. Boeing, Lockheed, Raytheon, I don’t want to hurt jobs... There are other ways of punishing, to use a word that’s a pretty harsh word, but it’s true.”
Nuda Dua, Indonesia, Oct. 13: IMF chief Christine Lagarde said on Saturday she was “horrified” by reports about the fate of Saudi dissident Jamal Khashoggi but still plans to attend an economic meeting in Riyadh this month. Lagarde said her plans were unchanged for now, despite international uproar over the case.
“Human rights, freedom of information are essential rights and horrifying things are being reported,” she told reporters in Bali where the IMF is holding annual meetings.
“But I have to conduct the business of the IMF in all corners in the world and with many governments. When I visit a country, I always speak my mind. So at this point my intention is to not change my plans and to be very attentive to the information that is to come out in the next few days.”
Her comments came shortly after US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin announced his plan to go ahead with the October 23- 25 meeting, dubbed ‘ Davos in the Desert’.
“The answer is for now I am still going,” Mnuchin said.
“If more information comes out over the next week, I will obviously take that into account.”” Obviously I want to express concern for Mr. Khashoggi and his family,” he added.