Trump penalises suspected Khashoggi killers
US expected to consider wider sanctions as Turkish leader Erdogan says death of journalist was planned
DONALD TRUMP’S administration last night announced penalties against the suspected Saudi Arabian killers of Jamal Khashoggi, the journalist, as the US president called his death “the worst cover-up ever”.
Mike Pompeo, the US secretary of state, said suspects had already been identified in Saudi Arabia’s intelligence agencies, royal court, foreign ministry and other parts of the government.
Mr Pompeo did not give names or say how many people would be impacted, stressing that the full facts were still emerging.
Mr Pompeo said that some of those identified would have their visas taken away or monitored, adding that the Trump administration was considering whether wider sanctions should be implemented.
It is the toughest response yet to Mr Khashoggi’s death from the White House. “These penalties will not be the last word on the matter from the United States,” Mr Pompeo said. “We’re making very clear that the United States does not tolerate this kind of ruthless action to silence Mr Khashoggi, a journalist, through violence.”
Minutes before the announcement, Mr Trump had told reporters in the White House that attempts to conceal Mr Khashoggi’s killing amounted to the “worst cover-up ever”.
Mr Trump said: “They had a very bad original concept. It was carried out poorly and the cover-up was one of the worst in the history of cover-ups.”
However he also appeared to question the tone adopted by Recep Erdoğan, the Turkish president, in a speech on Mr Khashoggi yesterday, saying he had been “pretty rough on Saudi Arabia”.
Mr Trump also stressed the importance of the Us-saudi relationship and suggested that Congress, rather than his administration, would take the lead on whether to sanction the country in punishment.
Mr Erdoğan said yesterday that the death of Mr Khashoggi was “a savage murder” planned in advance by Saudi Arabian officials.
Mohammed bin Salman, Saudi Arabia’s crown prince, responded by summoning Mr Khashoggi’s son for a photo opportunity where he and the king “expressed their condolences” over the journalist’s death. But on the first day of the kingdom’s flagship investment conference, boycotted by dozens of participants, the Saudi energy minister admitted the country was going through a “crisis”.
In his first major speech since Mr Khashoggi disappeared on Oct 2, Mr Erdoğan said Turkish intelligence indicated the killing was “a planned operation” and called for “those who gave the orders” to be held accountable. Despite promising to reveal “the naked truth”, Mr Erdoğan left several major questions unanswered. He did not say if Turkish intelligence indicated that Prince Mohammed ordered the killing. He also said nothing about an alleged audio tape that Turkish officials said proved that Mr Khashoggi was tortured and that Saudi Arabia was lying about his death.
While Mr Erdoğan stopped short of making direct accusations, his speech added to pressure on Riyadh, which has faced a wave of international scepticism since it claimed over the weekend that the crown prince was not involved in the killing.
The G7 released a statement on the killing yesterday, calling for a “thorough, credible, transparent and prompt investigation by Saudi Arabia, in full collaboration with the Turkish authorities”. “Those responsible for the killing must be held to account. Saudi Arabia must put in place measures to ensure something like this can never happen again,” said the statement from Jeremy Hunt, the Foreign Secretary, and his counterparts in Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the US and the EU.
Crown Prince Mohammed, 33, tried to project calm and confidence yesterday by appearing at an afternoon session of his “Davos in the Desert” summit. But Khalid al-falih, the energy minister, acknowledged “these are difficult days” for the country. “We are going through a crisis.”
Earlier, the crown prince and King Salman met Mr Khashoggi’s son, Salah, who is banned from leaving Saudi Arabia.
‘These are difficult days [for Saudi Arabia]. We are going through a crisis’