Pompeo: US to hold writer’s killers accountable

WASHINGTON: Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman that the US will hold accountable all those involved in the killing of a dissident Saudi journalist, in a telephone call that also took in the conflict in Yemen.

The killing of Jamal Khashoggi in Saudi Arabia’s consulate in Istanbul and the war in Yemen, which has pushed the country to the brink of famine, are two of the main sources of strain in the decades-old alliance between Washington and Riyadh.

Prince Mohammed is controversially linked to both: he has played a direct role in overseeing Saudi Arabia’s Yemen intervention and has also been accused of orchestrating the Oct 2 murder of Khashoggi, who was a US resident.

“The Secretary emphasised that the United States will hold all of those involved in the killing of Jamal Khashoggi accountable, and that Saudi Arabia must do the same,” State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said on Sunday.

The top US diplomat has previously said Khashoggi’s killing “vio- lates the norms of international law,” and that the US was reviewing possible sanctions on individuals identified as having been involved.

But Pompeo and US President Donald Trump have also both emphasised America’s important commercial, strategic and national security relationships with the petro-state.