This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/oct/16/jamal-khashoggi-disappearance-mike-pompeo-saudi-arabia-salman

The article has changed 23 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 2 Version 3
Jamal Khashoggi: US secretary of state arrives in Saudi Arabia for crisis talks Jamal Khashoggi: US secretary of state arrives in Saudi Arabia for crisis talks
(35 minutes later)
The US secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, has met King Salman in Saudi Arabia to discuss the disappearance of the journalist Jamal Khashoggi, as reports emerged that Riyadh was poised to acknowledge that Khashoggi was killed in its consulate in Istanbul. The US secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, has arrived in Saudi Arabia for crisis talks with King Salman, as reports emerged that the kingdom was poised to acknowledge that the missing Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi died inside a diplomatic building in Istanbul.
Pompeo landed in Riyadh on Tuesday morning and met the king immediately to discuss the crisis surrounding Khashoggi, who vanished two weeks ago during a visit to the Istanbul consulate. Speaking at the royal palace, where Salman greeted him, America’s top diplomat thanked the king “for accepting my visit on behalf of President Trump” before going into a closed-door meeting. Pompeo landed in Riyadh on Tuesday morning and met the king immediately to discuss the crisis surrounding Khashoggi, who vanished two weeks ago during a visit to the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. Speaking at the royal palace, where Salman greeted him, the US’s top diplomat thanked the king “for accepting my visit on behalf of President Trump” before going into a closed-door meeting.
Turkish officials say they fear Khashoggi was killed and dismembered inside the consulate. Saudi officials have called the allegations “baseless”, but reports in US media on Tuesday suggested the kingdom may acknowledge the writer was killed there. Pompeo will have dinner with the county’s powerful crown prince Mohammed bin Salman on Tuesday, according to reporters travelling with him. He is then due to visit Istanbul, where a joint Turkish-Saudi investigation is under way.
Earlier on Tuesday morning, a Turkish forensics team completed a search inside the consulate. Technicians in overalls, gloves and covered shoes treated the diplomatic mission as a crime scene during their hours-long search. It was not immediately clear what evidence they gathered. Khashoggi, a prominent critic of the crown prince, relocated from Saudi Arabia to the US last year, where he wrote for the Washington Post. He visited the Saudi consulate building in Istanbul on 2 October for an appointment to pick up documents for his forthcoming marriage and has not been seen since.
Donald Trump, after speaking with King Salman, had dispatched Pompeo to speak to the monarch of the world’s top oil exporter over Khashoggi’s disappearance. The president himself said without offering evidence that Khashoggi could have been murdered by “rogue killers”, offering the US-allied kingdom a possible path out of a global diplomatic firestorm. Turkish officials allege they have video and audio evidence that proves Khashoggi was interrogated and murdered by a 15-man hit squad sent from Riyadh – claims Saudi Arabia continues to deny, although it has offered no alternate version of events.
However, left unsaid was the fact that any decision in the ultra-conservative kingdom rests solely with the ruling Al Saud family. Noticeably absent from discussions was the Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, about whom Khashoggi wrote critically for the Washington Post and whose rise to power prompted the writer to go into a self-imposed exile in the US. US media outlets reported late on Monday that Saudi Arabia was considering making a statement admitting that Khashoggi died inside the consulate building as the result of a botched rendition.
The New York Times reported that the Saudi royal court would suggest that an official within the kingdom’s intelligence services, a friend of Prince Mohammed, had carried out the killing. According to that reported claim, the crown prince had approved an interrogation or rendition of Khashoggi back to Saudi Arabia, but the intelligence official was tragically incompetent as he eagerly sought to prove himself. Both reports cited anonymous people said to be familiar with the Saudi plans. Any such admission would be issued only after a deal was reached with Turkey on how the criminal investigation should proceed, the Washington Post reported, citing two US diplomatic sources.
What evidence Turkish officials could gather at the consulate remained unknown. Saudi officials have been in and out of the building since Khashoggi’s disappearance on 2 October without being stopped. Under the Vienna convention, diplomatic posts are technically foreign soil that must be protected and respected by host countries. Last week, the US president threatened “severe punishment” if it emerged that Khashoggi had been murdered. However, on Monday he said, without offering evidence, that Khashoggi could have been murdered by “rogue killers”, prompting speculation that the White House may be willing to protect the House of Saud, a key political and trade ally, from blame for the diplomatic crisis.
Turkey had wanted to search the consulate for days. Permission apparently came after a late Sunday-night call between King Salman and the Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. In statements after the call, both praised the creation of a joint Saudi-Turkish investigation. Turkish investigators were allowed access to the diplomatic building for the first time on Monday afternoon. Technicians in overalls, gloves and covered shoes emerged nine hours later.
Khashoggi wrote extensively for the Washington Post about Saudi Arabia, criticising its war in Yemen, the recent diplomatic spat with Canada and its arrest of women’s rights activists after the lifting of a driving ban for women. Those policies are all seen as initiatives of Prince Mohammed, the son of King Salman, who is next in line to the throne. Ankara has wanted to search the consulate for days, but under the Vienna convention, diplomatic posts are technically foreign soil that must be protected and respected by host countries.
Prince Mohammed has aggressively pitched the kingdom as a destination for foreign investment. But Khashoggi’s disappearance has led several business leaders and media outlets to back out of the upcoming investment conference in Riyadh, called the Future Investment Initiative. Before the Turkish team arrived, cleaners with disinfectant, mops and buckets were seen entering the building’s main door.
Trump previously warned of “severe punishment” for the kingdom if it was found to be involved in Khashoggi’s disappearance, which has spooked investors in Saudi Arabia and SoftBank, a Japanese firm that manages tens of billions of dollars for the kingdom. Although it was not immediately clear what evidence could be extracted two weeks after Khashoggi’s disappearance, al-Jazeera reported that a source in the Turkish attorney general’s office said the search team found sufficient evidence to “support the belief” the missing writer was killed.
Trump’s warning drew an angry response on Sunday from Saudi Arabia and its state-linked media, including a suggestion that Riyadh could wield its oil production as a weapon. The US president has been pressing King Salman and Opec to boost production for weeks to drive down high crude oil prices, caused in part by the coming reimposition of oil sanctions on Iran after the US withdrawal from that country’s nuclear deal with world powers. Police plan to conduct a second search, of the Saudi consul’s home in Istanbul, on Tuesday.
Khashoggi wrote extensively for the Washington Post about Saudi Arabia, criticising its war in Yemen, the recent diplomatic spat with Canada and its arrest of women’s rights activists after the lifting of a driving ban for women. Those policies are all seen as initiatives of Bin Salman, who is next in line to the throne.
Khashoggi’s family, who said they have been left to “sadly and anxiously follow the conflicting news”, on Monday called for an independent investigation into his disappearance.
“The strong moral and legal responsibility which our father instilled in us obliges us to call for the establishment of an independent and impartial international commission to inquire into the circumstances of his death,” the statement read.
The call was echoed on Tuesday by the UN high commissioner for human rights, Michelle Bachelet, who urged Ankara and Riyadh to waive diplomatic immunity in the case and “reveal everything they know about the disappearance and possible extrajudicial killing” of Khashoggi.
Jamal KhashoggiJamal Khashoggi
Saudi ArabiaSaudi Arabia
Middle East and North AfricaMiddle East and North Africa
US foreign policyUS foreign policy
Journalist safetyJournalist safety
newsnews
Share on FacebookShare on Facebook
Share on TwitterShare on Twitter
Share via EmailShare via Email
Share on LinkedInShare on LinkedIn
Share on PinterestShare on Pinterest
Share on Google+Share on Google+
Share on WhatsAppShare on WhatsApp
Share on MessengerShare on Messenger
Reuse this contentReuse this content