Hindustan Surkhiyan Desk: US President Donald Trump has accused Saudi Arabia of lying about the killing of Jamal Khashoggi, his strongest comments to date on the affair as pressure builds on the administration to strike a tougher line.
In an interview with the Washington Post published late Saturday, Trump stepped back from his stance that Saudi Arabia’s latest explanation for the death of the journalist inside their Istanbul consulate was credible, but said he remained confident in the leadership of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
“Obviously there’s been deception and there’s been lies,” he said of the shifting accounts offered by Riyadh.
Saudi officials originally said Khashoggi, who entered the diplomatic mission on October 2, had left unharmed, before announcing Friday he was killed inside the building in what they described as an altercation.
“Their stories are all over the place,” added Trump.
Saudi Arabia faced a growing chorus of incredulity yesterday, with world powers demanding answers. British and French officials denounced the latest Saudi explanation as insufficient. Canada’s foreign minister, Chrystia Freeland, said the Saudi version lacked “consistency and credibility.”
Later Britain, France and Germany in a joint statement said Saudi Arabia must clarify how Khashoggi died inside its Istanbul consulate, and its account must “be backed by facts to be considered credible”.
However, Trump warned Saturday against halting a Saudi arms deal, saying it would hurt American jobs.
“We have $450 billion, $110 billion of which is a military order, but this is equipment and various things ordered from Saudi Arabia,” Trump told reporters about an agreement to sell weapons to Riyadh.
“It’s over a million jobs; that’s not helpful for us to cancel an order like that. That hurts us far more than it hurts them,” he added, noting Riyadh could obtain the weapons from other countries like China or Russia.
Several senior members of Trump’s Republican Party said they believed Prince Mohammed, the kingdom’s de facto ruler, was linked to the killing, and one called for a “collective” Western response if a link is proved.
But Trump stopped far short of calling for the prince to be replaced, emphasizing as he has before how important the US-Saudi relationship is to Washington’s regional strategic goals.
Meanwhile, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan yesterday vowed to reveal the “naked truth” over the killing, saying that he would make a new statement on the case next week.
“We are looking for justice here and this will be revealed in all its naked truth, not through some ordinary steps but in all its naked truth,” Erdogan told a rally in Istanbul.
The crisis has forced Saudi King Salman to intervene. He ordered the dismissal of five officials, including Saud al-Qahtani, a royal court adviser seen as the right-hand man to Prince Mohammed, and deputy intelligence chief Ahmed Asiri, Saudi state media reported on Saturday.
Eighteen Saudi nationals had been arrested, the Saudi public prosecutor said in a statement.
The king also ordered a restructuring of the intelligence service, to be led by Prince Mohammed, suggesting the prince still retained wide-ranging authority.
