The Press and Journal (Inverness, Highlands, and Islands)
Reporter scandal sees US diplomat visit Saudi’s king
Mystery: Riyadh may say journalist died in building
US secretary of state Mike Pompeo has met Saudi Arabia’s King Salman over the disappearance and alleged killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, who vanished two weeks ago on a visit to the Saudi consulate in Turkey.
Mr Pompeo landed in Riyadh yesterday morning and was welcomed by Saudi foreign minister Adel al Jubeir before meeting the king.
The top US diplomat thanked the king “for accepting my visit on behalf of President Trump”.
Turkish officials say they fear Khashoggi was killed and dismembered inside the Istanbul consulate.
Saudi officials previously called the allegations “baseless”, but reports in US media suggested the kingdom may acknowledge the writer was killed there during interrogation.
Mr Trump, having spoken with King Salman, sent Mr Pompeo for talks with the monarch of the world’s top oil exporter over Khashoggi’s disappearance.
Mr Trump himself said, without offering evidence, that the killing could have been carried out by “rogue killers”, offering the US-allied kingdom a possible path out of a global diplomatic firestorm.
But left unsaid was the fact that any decision in the ultra-conservative kingdom rests solely with the ruling al Saud family.
Mr Pompeo is also to meet Saudi crown prince Mohammed bin Salman, whom Khashoggi wrote critically about for The Washington Post and whose rise to power prompted the writer to go into a self-imposed exile in the United States.
“The effort behind the scenes is focused on avoiding a diplomatic crisis between the two countries and has succeeded in finding a pathway to de-escalate tensions,” said Ayham Kamel, of the Eurasia Group political consultancy.
“Riyadh will have to provide some explanation of the journalist’s disappearance, but in a manner that distances the leadership from any claim that a decision was made at senior levels to assassinate the prominent journalist.”
US cable channel CNN reported the Saudis were going to admit the killing happened but deny the king or crown prince had ordered it, which does not match what analysts and experts know about the kingdom’s inner workings.