US President Donald Trump Says Khlashoggi Likely is Dead
US President Donald Trump speaks to reporters before boarding Air Force One at the Joint Base Andrews in Prince George's County, Maryland, on Thursday.
By gowidenews 19 Oct, 2018 02:24 A.M
Trump says Khashoggi likely dead, mulls ‘very severe’ response
From The report reaching us says,
US President Donald Trump said he presumes missing Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi is dead and that his country’s response to Saudi Arabia is likely to be “very severe”, although he still wants to get to the bottom of what exactly happened, Reuters reports.
Turkish police are searching a forest on the outskirts of Istanbul and a city near the Sea of Marmara for the remains of Khashoggi more than two weeks after he vanished after entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, two senior Turkish officials told the news agency.
Trump, who has forged closer ties with Saudi Arabia and the 33-year-old Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, acknowledged for the first time on Thursday that Khashoggi, a US resident and Washington Post columnist, probably had been killed.
“It certainly looks that way to me. It’s very sad,” Trump told reporters before boarding Air Force One on a political trip. In an interview with the New York Times on Thursday, Trump based his acknowledgment that Khashoggi was dead on intelligence reports.
According to the report saying that
Turkish officials have said they believe Khashoggi was murdered at the consulate and his body chopped up and removed. Riyadh strongly denies the allegations and said it is investigating the disappearance of the journalist, who was critical of Saudi rulers and had been calling for reforms.
Trump spoke hours after receiving an update from Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on the results of Pompeo’s emergency talks in Saudi Arabia and Turkey this week.
In the New York Times interview, Trump also expressed confidence in intelligence reports that suggest a high-level Saudi role in the suspected killing of Khashoggi.
Trump said, however, it was still “a little bit early” to draw definitive conclusions about who may have been behind it.
Pompeo told reporters that he advised Trump that Saudi Arabia should be given a few more days to complete its investigation into the disappearance of Khashoggi, which has caused an international outcry and strained Saudi relations with western countries and corporations.
Still on the report which says that,
Trump said he was waiting for the results so that “we can get to the bottom of this very soon” and that he would be making a statement about it at some point.
Asked what would be the consequences for Saudi Arabia, Trump said: “Well, it’ll have to be very severe. I mean, it’s bad, bad stuff. But we’ll see what happens.”
The United States considers Riyadh a linchpin in efforts to contain Iran’s regional influence and a key global oil source, and Trump has shown no inclination to mete out harsh punishment to the Saudis.
The US and other Western nations are in a dilemma of how to respond because of lucrative business ties, including weapons sales to Riyadh.
By gowidenews 19 Oct, 2018 02:24 A.M
Trump says Khashoggi likely dead, mulls ‘very severe’ response
From The report reaching us says,
US President Donald Trump said he presumes missing Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi is dead and that his country’s response to Saudi Arabia is likely to be “very severe”, although he still wants to get to the bottom of what exactly happened, Reuters reports.
Turkish police are searching a forest on the outskirts of Istanbul and a city near the Sea of Marmara for the remains of Khashoggi more than two weeks after he vanished after entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, two senior Turkish officials told the news agency.
Trump, who has forged closer ties with Saudi Arabia and the 33-year-old Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, acknowledged for the first time on Thursday that Khashoggi, a US resident and Washington Post columnist, probably had been killed.
“It certainly looks that way to me. It’s very sad,” Trump told reporters before boarding Air Force One on a political trip. In an interview with the New York Times on Thursday, Trump based his acknowledgment that Khashoggi was dead on intelligence reports.
According to the report saying that
Turkish officials have said they believe Khashoggi was murdered at the consulate and his body chopped up and removed. Riyadh strongly denies the allegations and said it is investigating the disappearance of the journalist, who was critical of Saudi rulers and had been calling for reforms.
Trump spoke hours after receiving an update from Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on the results of Pompeo’s emergency talks in Saudi Arabia and Turkey this week.
In the New York Times interview, Trump also expressed confidence in intelligence reports that suggest a high-level Saudi role in the suspected killing of Khashoggi.
Trump said, however, it was still “a little bit early” to draw definitive conclusions about who may have been behind it.
Pompeo told reporters that he advised Trump that Saudi Arabia should be given a few more days to complete its investigation into the disappearance of Khashoggi, which has caused an international outcry and strained Saudi relations with western countries and corporations.
Still on the report which says that,
Trump said he was waiting for the results so that “we can get to the bottom of this very soon” and that he would be making a statement about it at some point.
Asked what would be the consequences for Saudi Arabia, Trump said: “Well, it’ll have to be very severe. I mean, it’s bad, bad stuff. But we’ll see what happens.”
The United States considers Riyadh a linchpin in efforts to contain Iran’s regional influence and a key global oil source, and Trump has shown no inclination to mete out harsh punishment to the Saudis.
The US and other Western nations are in a dilemma of how to respond because of lucrative business ties, including weapons sales to Riyadh.
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