U.S. TELLS SAUDIS TO HOLD KHASHOGGI’S KILLERS ACCOUNTABLE.

Pompeo, on Saudi trip, presses for Khashoggi justice

RIYADH, SAUDI ARABIA • The Trump administration expects Saudi Arabia to hold “every single person” responsible for the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi accountable, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Monday after talks with senior Saudi officials that also focused on Mideast crises and countering threats from Iran.

Pompeo also said that President Donald Trump’s threat to devastate NATO ally Turkey’s economy if it attacks U.S.-backed Kurdish fighters in Syria underscored America’s commitment to its Kurd partners. He said he assumed Trump was referring to sanctions that could be imposed if Turkey takes military action against the Kurds but referred questions to the White House.

At the end of a trip to Riyadh, Pompeo said he had raised the Khashoggi case in his meetings with Saudi King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman as well as other human rights concerns, and the fate of women’s rights activists who have been detained in the kingdom.

“We spoke about human rights issues here in Saudi Arabia, women activists,” he said. “We spoke about the accountability and the expectations that we have. The Saudis are friends and when friends have conversations you tell them what your expectations are.

“Our expectations have been clear from early on: every single person who has responsibility for the murder of Jamal Khashoggi needs to be held accountable,” Pompeo said. He said the Saudis had reiterated pledges to pursue the case wherever it leads. He would not comment on U.S. intelligence suggesting the crown prince may have ordered the killing.

The relationship between Riyadh and Washington remains tense following Khashoggi’s brutal slaying and dismemberment at the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul in October.

Members of Prince Mohammed’s entourage have been implicated in the killing and U.S. lawmakers have demanded America pull back its support of the Saudi-led war in Yemen.

On the detained women rights activists, Pompeo said the Saudis had committed that the “lawful judicial process would take place and they would do so quickly and that they would continue down that path.”

“They understand the concerns that some have and they are going to do their best to communicate as appropriate,” he said.

Pompeo travelled to Saudi Arabia as part of a broader Middle East tour that has already taken him to Jordan, Iraq, Egypt, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates.