U.S. revoking visas of suspects in slaying
Secretary ISTANBUL — of State Mike Pompeo announced Tuesday that the United States is revoking visas for the Saudi men accused of killing journalist Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul.
The U.S. measures represent the Trump administration’s first concrete step to punish Saudi Arabia for what the Turkish government called the “planned” and “brutal” murder of a Washington Post contributing columnist.
Pompeo said he is also working with the Treasury Department on whether to impose other sanctions against those responsible for the journalist’s death.
“These penalties will not be the last word on this matter from the United States,” Pompeo said during a briefing at the State Department. “We will continue to explore additional measures to hold those responsible accountable.”
The Trump administration has lagged behind the international community in criticizing the Saudi government for the killing of the journalist, but has started expressing frustration with Riyadh’s shifting accounts of what happened after Khashoggi entered the consulate on Oct. 2.
The cover-up was “one of the worst in the history of cover-ups,” President Trump told reporters at the White House on Tuesday.
At the same time, Trump and Pompeo both stressed the importance of Washington’s relationship with Riyadh, which buys billions of dollars of planes, bombs and other equipment from the United States every year.
“We are making very clear that the United States does not tolerate this kind of ruthless action to silence Mr. Khashoggi, a journalist, with violence,” Pompeo said. But he noted that “we continue to maintain a strong partnership with the kingdom of Saudi Arabia.”
Lawmakers in Washington have called on Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the Saudi kingdom’s de facto leader, to step down in wake of Khashoggi’s death. Pompeo pledged that the United States would hold accountable not only those who “executed” the mission but also “those who were connected to it.”
Separately on Tuesday, the official Saudi Press Agency published photos of the Saudi monarch King Salman and the crown prince meeting two members of Khashoggi’s family, including his son.
One photo showed the son, Salah, looking ashen-faced and shaking hands with Mohammed as a video cameraman stood in the background.
Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Ministry wrote on Twitter that the leaders shared “their deepest condolences and sympathy to the family of Jamal Khashoggi, may God rest his soul.”
Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir said Tuesday that the kingdom was committed to a “comprehensive investigation” into the journalist’s death and has dispatched a team to Turkey.
Speaking in Indonesia on Tuesday, Jubeir said the Saudi investigators had “uncovered evidence of a murder.”