Allies struggle for response to changing Saudi story on Khashoggi

Trump administration stresses importance of kingdom, its economy to the U.S.

WASHINGTON –– Saudi Arabia’s revised account of the death of journalist Jamal Khashoggi left the U.S. and other allies struggling for a response Sunday.

France demanded more information, Germany put arms sales to the oil-rich nation on hold and the Trump administration stressed the importance of the kingdom and its economy to the U.S.

More than two weeks after Khashoggi disappeared, Saudi Arabia acknowledged over the weekend that the Washington Post contributor was killed Oct. 2 inside the kingdom’s Istanbul consulate, characterizing his death as accidental. The reversal – Saudi officials had previously said the columnist left the building alive – seems only to have complicated the issue for allies.

In Sunday radio and TV interviews, Dominica Raab, the U.K. politician in charge of negotiating Britain’s exit from the European Union, described the latest Saudi account as not credible; French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire called for “the truth”; and Germany’s Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said his government would approve no arms sales as long as the investigation continues. Saudi Arabia is an important market for all three countries.

In an interview with The Washington Post, U.S. President Donald Trump, too, said the Saudi narrative had been marked by “deception and lies.” Yet he also defended Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman as a “strong person,” and said there was no proof of his involvement in Khashoggi’s death. Some members of Congress have questioned Trump’s willingness to exonerate the prince.

Behind the rhetoric are difficult choices the U.S. and other governments will have to make, between long-standing economic and defense ties to the kingdom and concern that not imposing consequences for the killing would give a green light for authoritarian regimes to kill inconvenient journalists and opponents worldwide.

“We have a long-standing relationship with Saudi that dates back to a long period of time,” U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in Jerusalem, the first stop on a six-country Middle East trip that will include a visit to Riyadh. “We will continue in that relationship while we also simultaneously get to the bottom of what the facts are about the Khashoggi situation, which obviously is a terrible situation.”

The treasury secretary, who canceled his participation in a Saudi investment conference last week, said that while the world seeks answers as to what Goldman Sachs is racing to take advantage of steep tax breaks for supporting projects in low-income communities. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, who started his career at Goldman Sachs, has been promoting the program.

happened to Khashoggi, “the information that’s coming out is a good first step, but it’s obviously not enough.”

In the meantime, Russian businesses are flocking to attend the investment forum in Saudi Arabia as Western counterparts pull out. Russian President Vladimir Putin has had considerable success boosting Moscow’s influence in the Middle East at U.S. expense, by standing with regimes that fall afoul of the West, including in Syria and Iran. Last week Putin signed a strategic and partnership agreement with Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah Sissi, backed by $25 billion in loans to build nuclear reactors. Until Sissi came to power, Egypt had been closely allied to the U.S.

According to the latest Saudi account, “discussions” of

Khashoggi’s status turned violent at the consulate. He died after being placed in a chokehold, a person with knowledge of the Saudi probe said. That conflicts with reports from Turkish officials, who say a Saudi hit team flew in specifically to kill and dismember him. According to a New York Times report, some members of the group had close ties to the crown prince.

Mnuchin said it would be “premature to comment on sanctions” related to the killing until “we’ve gotten to the bottom of what’s occurred.”

If Trump has a message for Saudi officials related to the investigation of Khashoggi’s killing, Mnuchin said he would deliver it. He said discussions with the Saudis would focus on stopping terrorism financing.