Trump pressed to act over Khashoggi
President unconvinced of Crown Prince role
WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump faces increasing pressure to take tougher measures against Saudi Arabia over the killing of writer Jamal Khashoggi.
Mr Trump says that Saudi Arabia is a “spectacular ally” and that he’s not convinced that Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the kingdom’s de facto leader, was directly responsible for the Oct 2 slaying of the editorial columnist for The Washington Post inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.
But there are increasing calls for more action amid a growing consensus that the crown prince, who controls virtually all
major levers of power in Saudi Arabia, must have known about the operation.
The pressure is coming from both Democrats and Republicans in Congress and US allies abroad.
France’s top diplomat said on Monday that his country was mulling sanctions against Saudi Arabia. Germany on Monday announced that it has banned 18 Saudi nationals from entering Europe’s borderfree Schengen zone because of their suspected connections to the killing. German officials, who earlier banned new weapons exports to Riyadh, also said they are halting previously approved arms exports as well.
Over the weekend, Mr Trump called reports that the crown prince ordered the killing “premature”. He said it was “possible” and that it was also possible people will never know the truth.
“Donald Trump just says, ‘Will anybody really know?’ as if our intelligence agencies are incapable of making an assessment,’’ Sen Ron Wyden of Oregon, said.
He said CIA Director Gina Haspel and National Intelligence Director Dan Coats need to “come out and provide the American people and the Congress with a public assessment of who ordered the killing of Jamal Khashoggi.’’
Saudi Arabia’s top diplomat insists that the crown prince had “absolutely” nothing to do with Khashoggi’s death, but US intelligence officials have concluded that he ordered the killing, according to a US official familiar with the assessment. Others familiar with the case caution that while it’s likely that the crown prince had a role in the death, there continue to be questions about the degree to which he was involved.
Vice President Mike Pence told reporters that Mr Trump would yesterday review information about Khashoggi’s death and then make his decisions about the United States’ “enormously important strategic relationship’’ with Saudi Arabia, which is aligned with the United States in pushing back against Iran.
The United States has stepped up its opposition to Saudi Arabia’s war against Houthi rebels in neighboring Yemen. Saudi airstrikes in the war in Yemen have killed thousands of civilians.
In recent weeks, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Defence Secretary Jim Mattis have called for a ceasefire in Yemen, and the US has announced it would stop refuelling Saudi Arabian aircraft fighting the Houthis. The US also has sanctioned 17 Saudi officials suspected of being
responsible for or complicit in the killing.
Late last week, a bipartisan group of senators introduced legislation that calls for suspending weapons sales to Saudi Arabia; sanctions on people who block humanitarian access in Yemen or support the Houthi rebels; and mandatory sanctions on those responsible for Khashoggi’s death.
“There must be a transparent, credible investigation into Khashoggi’s murder,” New Jersey Sen Bob Menendez, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said in introducing the bill.
“On Yemen, the administration’s decision to suspend US aerial refuelling for the Saudi coalition absent an actual strategy for ending this conflict is empty action,’’ he said.