Journo murder a fiasco – Trump

SANCTIONS: US REVOKES VISAS OF 21 SAUDIS

The cover-up was one of the worst in the history of cover-ups, says US president.

Washington

The US said it was revoking visas of Saudis involved in the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, as President Donald Trump ridiculed the kingdom’s response as “one of the worst cover-ups” in history.

The move came as Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Khashoggi’s killing inside the Saudis’ Istanbul consulate had been meticulously planned, in a speech that overshadowed a long-planned investment forum in Riyadh.

Saudi leaders have denied involvement in the killing, pushing responsibility down the chain of command.

Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman “strongly said that he had nothing to do with this, this was at a lower level”, Trump said, adding he had spoken on Monday to the prince and his father, King Salman.

Trump said the Saudis had a “very bad original concept” in killing the 59-year-old Saudi insider-turned-critic.

“It was carried out poorly and the cover-up was one of the worst in the history of cover-ups,” Trump said.

“It was a total fiasco. I’m saying they should have never thought about it. Once they thought about it, everything else they did was bad, too ... It should have never happened.”

Faced with mounting calls for tough measures by US lawmakers across the political spectrum, the state department said it had identified 21 Saudis whose visas would either be revoked or who would be ineligible for future visas.

“These penalties will not be the last word on this matter from the United States,” Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said. “We are making very clear that the US does not tolerate this kind of action to silence Mr Khashoggi, a journalist, through violence,” he said.

The top US diplomat said the Saudi suspects came from “the intelligence services, the royal court, the foreign ministry and other Saudi ministries”.

Vice-President Mike Pence, in an appearance at The Washington Post, where Khashoggi was a contributing opinion writer, denounced the “brutal murder.”

Saudi Arabia initially claimed Khashoggi left freely after visiting the consulate, but as pressure grew, Saudi state media changed the story and said Khashoggi died after a “fistfight”. –AFP