WASHINGTON, Oct 9, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on
Monday called for a thorough and open probe by Washington’s ally Saudi Arabia
into the disappearance of Riyadh critic Jamal Khashoggi, after President
Donald Trump voiced concern for the journalist.
Khashoggi, a Washington Post contributor and US resident, had written
articles critical of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
On the eve of Khashoggi’s planned marriage to a Turkish woman, he entered
the consulate on October 2 and has not been seen since.
Turkish officials allege he was murdered inside the consulate. Riyadh
denies that and claims he left the compound on his own.
“We call on the government of Saudi Arabia to support a thorough
investigation of Mr Khashoggi’s disappearance and to be transparent about the
results of that investigation,” Pompeo said in a statement.
State Department senior officials have spoken with Saudi Arabia through
diplomatic channels about the matter, the top US diplomat added.
Pompeo’s statement came after Trump earlier on Monday told reporters at
the White House: “I am concerned. I don’t like hearing about it. Hopefully
that will sort itself out.”
“Right now, nobody knows anything about it. There are some pretty bad
stories going around. I do not like it,” he added
The issue threatens to strain the close relationship Prince Mohammed has
forged with the Trump administration, which until now has been willing to
turn a blind eye to alleged Saudi human rights violations in Yemen, where it
leads a coalition bombing Houthi rebels that has killed thousands of
civilians.
Trump has instead focused on US and Saudi shared interests in ratcheting
up pressure on Iran. But two senior senators of Trump’s Republican party
warned Monday that the relationship could be imperiled if the stories about
Khashoggi are correct.
– ‘A heavy price’ –
Republican Senator Lindsey Graham said Riyadh must provide “honest
answers” about the journalist.
“We agree that if there was any truth to the allegations of wrongdoing by
the Saudi government it would be devastating to the US-Saudi relationship and
there will be a heavy price to be paid — economically and otherwise,” Graham
tweeted.
“Our country’s values should be and must be a cornerstone of our foreign
policy with foes and allies alike,” he said.
Bob Corker, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, warned
against governments attacking journalists outside their countries.
“I have raised Jamal’s disappearance personally with the Saudi ambassador,
and while we await more information, know we will respond accordingly to any
state that targets journalists abroad,” he wrote.
Vice President Mike Pence said he was “deeply troubled” about reports of
Khashoggi’s fate.
“If true, this is a tragic day. Violence against journalists across the
globe is a threat to freedom of the press & human rights. The free world
deserves answers,” Pence said on Twitter.
The Washington Post, for which the self-exiled Khashoggi wrote columns
over the past year, pressed for release of evidence.
“If Mr Khashoggi was murdered inside the consulate, it will cast the Saudi
regime and its de facto ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, in a new and
disturbing light and require a thorough reevaluation of US-Saudi relations,”
the newspaper said in an op-ed.
Khashoggi, 59, had a long career as a senior journalist in Saudi Arabia and
also as an advisor to top officials.
But since the emergence of Prince Mohammed, 33, as the center of power in
the kingdom last year, Khashoggi has been openly critical of the monarchy.
He has assailed the prince’s reforms as hollow, accusing him of
introducing a new Saudi era of “fear, intimidation, arrests and public
shaming.”