Trump denies cover up allegations, seeks full report on Khashoggi
October 18, 2018 10:25
President Donald Trump has denied "giving cover" to United States' "important ally" Saudi Arabia in the suspected murder of Jamal Khashoggi and sought a full report from Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in the dissident Saudi journalist's mysterious disappearance.
Khashoggi, 60, is feared to have been killed inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.
The incident has resulted in a global outrage, more so in the US where he lived as a legal permanent resident and worked for 'The Washington Post'.
Khashoggi vanished on October 2 after entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.
Turkish authorities suspect he was abducted and murdered by the Saudis.
But Riyadh insists that the journalist, a known critic of Saudi King Salman, had left the building and that murder claims are "baseless".
Amidst mounting pressure in the US, Trump on Wednesday appeared to be resisting any move to take strong action against Saudi Arabia, arguing that it was a key ally of America.
Trump told reporters at the White House that he had asked for the audio that gives a clue of the alleged brutal killing of Khashoggi.
"We've asked for it, if it exists," he said.
The New York Times, citing the content of the audio made available through its Turkish sources, said the audio gave a detailed account of the alleged brutal murder of Khashoggi.
"I'm not sure yet that it exists. Probably does. Possibly does. I'll have a full report on that from Mike when he comes back," Trump said, referring to his meeting with Mike Pompeo on Thursday on his return from Saudi Arabia and Turkey.
"That's going to be the first question I ask him," he said.
On his way back from Saudi Arabia and Turkey, Pompeo refused to comment on the existence of the audio tape.
"Have you heard or asked to hear the alleged audio on the actual murder?" he was asked.
"I don't have anything to say about that," Pompeo said, insisting Khashoggi was missing and the Saudi government has launched a probe.
"They're going to do their investigation. I know you all are going to ask questions. I'm going to be very consistent: We're going to give them the space to complete their investigations of this incident, and when they issue their reports, we'll form our judgment about thoroughness, depth, and the decisions they make about accountability connected to that," Pompeo said.
Trump told reporters that he wanted to find out from Pompeo what had happened.
"He went to Turkey; he went all over. But he spent a lot of time with the Crown Prince, and he's going to have a full report. I'm not giving cover at all," he said, refuting allegations that he is being soft on the Saudi establishment.
"Saudi Arabia has been a very important ally of ours in the Middle East. We are stopping Iran. We're not trying to stop Iran. We went a big step when we took away that ridiculous deal that was made by the previous administration - the Iran deal - which was USD 150 billion and USD 1.8 billion in cash. What was that all about?" he asked.
"They (Saudis) are an ally. We have other very good allies in the Middle East. But if you look at Saudi Arabia, they're an ally and they're a tremendous purchaser of not only military equipment, but other things," he said. -- PTI
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