US awaits full report into Khashoggi murder case
▶ Washington left in a diplomatic bind as President Trump insists that Riyadh remains a close ally
US President Donald Trump said his administration would receive a full report in the next two days about the death of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
Saudi Foreign Minister Adel Al Jubeir has claimed that rogue operatives were responsible for the dissident writer’s slaying in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on October 2.
But Mr Al Jubeir insisted that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman had absolutely nothing to do with the killing.
The situation has created a diplomatic problem for the US president: how to admonish Riyadh for the killing yet maintain strong ties with a close ally.
“We’ll be having a very full report over the next two days, probably Monday or Tuesday,” Mr Trump said on Saturday.
He said that would include who killed Khashoggi.
One sign of the tension the incident has caused in the US administration was the resignation on Friday of a White House official responsible for American policy on Saudi Arabia.
Kirsten Fontenrose, who had sought sanctions against the Saudi government over the death of Khashoggi, resigned as the director for the Arabian Gulf region at the National Security Council, The New York
Times reported.
The reasons for her departure were not clear but Ms Fontenrose recently travelled to Riyadh to discuss American sanctions imposed on those Saudi officials the US identified as being responsible for Khashoggi’s death.
CIA director Gina Haspel and US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo briefed Mr Trump about Khashoggi’s death again on Saturday. White House press secretary Sarah Sanders provided no detail of the call but said the president had confidence in the CIA.
Before the briefing, Mr Trump said that when it came to Prince Mohammed, “as of this moment we were told that he did not play a role. We’re going to have to find out what they have to say”.
“The United States government is determined to hold all those responsible for the killing of Jamal Khashoggi accountable,” the State Department said. “Recent reports indicating that the US government has made a final conclusion are inaccurate.
“There remain numerous unanswered questions with respect to the murder of the Saudi writer. The US government has taken decisive measures against the individuals responsible, including visa and sanctions actions.
“We will continue to explore additional measures to hold those accountable who planned, led and were connected to the murder. And we will do that while maintaining the important strategic relationship between the United States and Saudi Arabia.
Mr Trump said on Saturday that Saudi Arabia was “a truly spectacular ally in terms of jobs and economic development”.
When deciding what measures to take against Riyadh, “I have to take a lot of things into consideration”, he said.
The president called the killing a botched operation that was carried out very poorly.
“The cover-up was one of the worst cover-ups in the history of cover-ups,” Mr Trump said.
But he has resisted calls to cut weapons sales to the kingdom and has been reluctant to antagonise the Saudi rulers. The president considers Saudi Arabia to be a vital ally in pushing through his Middle East agenda.
US Vice President Mike Pence said on Saturday while travelling to a summit of Pacific Rim nations in Papua New Guinea, that the “murder of Jamal Khashoggi was an atrocity”.
“It was also an affront to a free and independent press, and the United States is determined to hold all of those accountable who are responsible for that murder,” Mr Pence said.