Trump: No Saudi punishment for Khashoggi murder
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump said Tuesday the U.S. will not punish Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman at this time nor cut arms sales to Saudi Arabia for the killing of U.S.based columnist Jamal Khashoggi.
Trump called the killing of Khashoggi inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul a “horrible crime” that the U.S. does not condone, but said Saudi Arabia is a “great ally” and canceling billions in arms sales would only benefit China and Russia, which would be glad to step in and make the sales.
Trump’s decision, announced in a statement released just before he left for the long Thanksgiving weekend in Florida, will disappoint and anger critics who have called for a much firmer rebuke of the kingdom and especially bin Salman.
U.S. intelligence officials have concluded that bin Salman, the kingdom’s de facto leader, ordered the Oct. 2 killing, according to a U.S. official familiar with the assessment. Others familiar with the case caution that while it’s likely the crown prince had a role in the death, there continue to be questions about the degree to which he was involved.
The U.S. earlier sanctioned 17 Saudi officials suspected of being responsible for or complicit in the killing, but members of Congress have called for harsher actions.
On Tuesday, U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Corker, R-Tenn., and U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., penned a letter to the president, demanding his administration make a determination specifically addressing whether bin Salman is responsible for Khashoggi’s murder.
“The Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act requires the President, upon receipt of a request from the Chairman and Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, to determine whether a foreign person is responsible for an extrajudicial killing, torture, or other gross violation of internationally recognized human rights against an individual exercising freedom of expression, and report to the Committee within 120 days with a determination and a decision on the imposition of sanctions on that foreign person or persons,” the letter reads.
“… In light of recent developments, including the Saudi government’s acknowledgement that Saudi officials killed Mr. Khashoggi in its Istanbul consulate, we request that your determination specifically address whether Crown Prince Mohamed bin Salman is responsible for Mr. Khashoggi’s murder. We expect to receive your determination within 120 days of our original request.”
Earlier this week in an editorial board meeting with The Chattanooga Times Free Press, Corker said “everything that I have seen points to the fact that [the Crown Prince] directed this [killing] and it would be hard to believe in a country like theirs anything like this could have happened without him directing it.”
Last week, Corker said “a price needs to be paid” to send a message to the Saudis. Corker led other senators in initiating a review of the killing under the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act.
“We’re left in a tough place because we need to maintain relations with the Saudis, but we can’t have a Crown Prince going around killing journalists,” Corker said.
As a result of the tragic death of Khashoggi, Corker said the Saudi war with Yemen may be shortened, or even ended, because of global pressure against the Saudi invasion into Yemen and the reluctance to sell arms for the Saudi military.
“There isn’t a snowball’s chance in you know where of any arms sales being approved right now to Saudi Arabia in the U.S. Senate,” Corker said. “There are now discussions about a cease fire [with Yemen] and I don’t think that just happened out of thin air.”