Pompeo Arrives in Riyadh to Discuss Journalist Khashoggi with Saudi king
On Tuesday, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who arrived in Riyadh for discussing matters on the missing journalist Jamal Khashoggi, is also on his way to talk to the Saudi crown prince, according to a US official.
After talking with the king on what happened to Khashoggi with the king earlier in the day on, Pompeo will have dinner with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
The controversy over a US resident, Khashoggi, has dealt a huge blow to his efforts to display a reform drive and burnish the kingdom’s image.
On Monday, the Turkish police searched the consulate for the first time since Khashoggi’s disappearance. Turkish officials claim that the journalist has been killed. However, Saudi Arabia denies the allegation.
Investigators who came, took some samples with them, including that of the soil from the consulate garden and was loaded into vans, one official at the scene said.
Trump commented just after he had finished a call with the Saudi King, father of the crown prince.
“Just spoke to the King of Saudi Arabia who denies any knowledge of whatever may have happened ‘to our Saudi Arabian citizen’,” Trump tweeted.
Riyadh’s most statement says that they have no knowledge of any killing and deny any order possibly given to kill Khashoggi.
“The denial was very, very strong. It sounded to me like maybe these could have been rogue killers. Who knows?”�Trump told the reporters.
The controversy is bad news for Saudi’s Western’s allies, who are the main arms suppliers for the country.
Moreover, President Trump has threatened the kingdom with “severe punishment” if proven that the Saudi country did kill Khashoggi inside its Istanbul mission.
However, he has also stated that he is reluctant to curb all-important arms sales to Saudi Arabia.
Britain, Germany, and France have also released a joint statement saying that they were treating Khashoggi’s disappearance “with the utmost seriousness” and calling for a “credible investigation”.
