Saudis to hold thorough probe, Pompeo says
Turkish justice minister calls on public to ignore leaked information in Khashoggi case
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told reporters after his talks with US President Donald Trump that Saudi Arabia “made it clear to me that they understand the serious nature of the disappearance of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. They also assured me that they will conduct a complete, thorough investigation of all of the facts surrounding Khashoggi and that they will do so in a timely fashion”.
He said yesterday it was important to remember the long US strategic relationship with Saudi Arabia. The kingdom, which denies any involvement in the kidnapping or killing of Khashoggi, has set up a joint team to investigate the disappearance with Turkey.
Pompeo said President Recep Tayyip Erdogan “made clear that the Saudis had cooperated with the investigation that the Turks are engaged in and they are going to share information.”
Trump said on Wednesday that America needs Saudi Arabia in the fight against terrorism, and that he did not want to walk away from the kingdom.
“You know we need Saudi Arabia in terms of our fight against all of the terrorism, everything that’s happening in Iran and other places,” Trump told Fox Business. He added that he did not want to walk away from Saudi Arabia. “They have a tremendous order, $110 billion,” he said, in reference to US arms sales to the Kingdom.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said Moscow “cannot start deteriorating relations” with Saudi Arabia because “it did not know what really happened” in the case of Khashoggi.
‘No concrete evidence’
Meanwhile, Turkish Justice Minister Abdul Hamid Gul asked the public to ignore any leaked information in the Khashoggi case. Several news outlets released reports quoting anonymous official sources who claimed to have found breaking evidence in the case. However, no concrete evidence has surfaced indicating any information about who is behind Khashoggi’s disappearance.
Gul said the case was being “thoroughly” investigated and “results are expected to come out soon.”
The Istanbul prosecutors’ office will reveal the truth behind Khashoggi’s disappearance and whatever the international law requires will be done, he added.
A joint Saudi-Turkish tam is probing the fate of the Khashoggi who was last seen in public on October 2.
Pompeo also told President Donald Trump US should give Saudi Arabia a few more days to wrap up its investigation into Khashoggi’s disappearance.
“I told President [Donald] Trump this morning that we ought to give them a few more days ... so that we too have a complete understanding of the facts” before deciding on a response, Pompeo told reporters at the White House.
Saudi consulate searched
The investigation team searched the Saudi consulate for about nine hours. On Wednesday, they searched the residence of the general consul, Mohammad Al Otaibi, about 300 metres away, arriving at 4.40pm (local time) and leaving early yesterday.
Reports relayed by an international news agency said Al Otaibi was relieved of his duties and that he will be questioned. The agency quoted a popular news site, Sabq. However, Sabq denied the report. “The news agency lapsed into in unprofessional and unethical [behaviour] by reporting a fake story. The claim ... was attributed to Sabq whereas it was purposefully posted by a different website that used a design similar to the genuine Sabq site,” Sabq said.