\nWASHINGTON : The US President Donald Trump said that he now believes journalist Jamal Khashoggi is dead and warned of \u201cvery severe\u201d consequences should Saudi Arabia be proven responsible.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt certainly looks that way to me. It\u2019s very sad,\u201d Trump told journalists when asked if he believed that Khashoggi, who disappeared more than two weeks ago, is no longer alive.<\/p>\n
Asked about the potential US response to Saudi Arabia, which is accused of murdering the Washington Post columnist and critic of the Saudi regime, Trump said: \u201cIt will have to be very severe. It\u2019s bad, bad stuff.\u201d<\/p>\n
This marked a hardening of tone from the Trump administration, which has been reluctant to blame ally Saudi Arabia, despite mounting evidence that the kingdom\u2019s agents killed and dismembered Khashoggi inside its consulate in Istanbul more than two weeks ago.<\/p>\n
A former regime insider, Khashoggi had become a critic of powerful Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the point man in ever-tightening military and commercial relations between the petro-state and the Trump administration.
\nJust hours earlier, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said he had told Trump the Saudis should be given \u201ca few more days to complete\u201d an investigation.<\/p>\n
Only then, Pompeo said, \u201cwe can make decisions how or if the United States should respond.\u201d<\/p>\n
In a possible sign of how the Saudis will seek to defuse the diplomatic crisis, The New York Times reported that the country\u2019s rulers could come out and blame General Ahmed al-Assiri, a top intelligence official close to the crown prince.<\/p>\n
Four prominent human rights and press freedom groups have urged Turkey to request a United Nations investigation to prevent a \u201cwhitewash\u201d of the alleged crime.<\/p>\n
The Committee to Protect Journalists, Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International and Reporters Without Borders said such a probe established by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres would finally clear up the affair.<\/p>\n
But the United States, the Saudis\u2019 most powerful patron, has repeatedly given the country\u2019s royals the benefit of the doubt, with Trump and top officials stressing that the US-Saudi relationship cannot be put at risk.<\/p>\n
Trump has repeatedly praised massive Saudi arms purchases, while Pompeo used much of his brief remarks on Thursday to recall Washington\u2019s \u201clong strategic relationship with the kingdom of Saudi Arabia.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Saudis \u201ccontinue to be an important counter-terrorism partner, they have custody of the two holy sites\u2026 We need to be mindful of that as well,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
WASHINGTON : The US President Donald Trump said that he now believes journalist Jamal Khashoggi is dead and warned of \u201cvery severe\u201d consequences should Saudi Arabia be proven responsible. \u201cIt certainly looks that way to me. It\u2019s very sad,\u201d Trump told journalists when asked if he believed that Khashoggi, who disappeared more than two weeks […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":17630,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-32550","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-top-news","8":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n