Pompeo meets with Turkish leaders over Saudi journalist
ANKARA, Turkey — A pro-government Turkish newspaper on Wednesday published a gruesome recounting of the alleged slaying of Saudi writer Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul, just as America's top diplomat arrived in the country for talks over the Washington Post columnist's disappearance.
The report by Yeni Safak adds to the ever-increasing pressure on Saudi Arabia to explain what happened to Khashoggi, who vanished Oct. 2 while visiting the consulate to pick up paperwork he needed to get married.
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo held separate meetings with Turkey's president and foreign minister for around 40 minutes each on Wednesday in the Turkish capital, Ankara. No details were immediately released about the talks with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu. The three posed for photos, but said nothing in front of reporters.
Pompeo met with Saudi King Salman and his son, the 33-yearold Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, on Tuesday. Before leaving Riyadh, Pompeo told reporters that the Saudi leaders "made no exceptions on who they would hold accountable."
"They made a commitment to hold anyone connected to any wrongdoing that may be found accountable for that, whether they are a senior officer or official," Pompeo said.
No major decisions are made outside of the ultraconservative kingdom's ruling Al Saud family. Khashoggi had fled the country last year amid the rise of Prince Mohammed, whom he wrote critically about in the Post.