Turkish officials said US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has heard an alleged audio recording of Jamal Khashoggi's murder inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul but The White House denies that
Thursday, October 18, 2018
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| Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi, 59 |
VietPress USA (Oct. 18, 2018): The Washington Post wrote that, One Saudi dissented from the otherwise overwhelming acclaim. Jamal Khashoggi, 59, a veteran journalist and opinion-maker, expressed misgivings about the implications of Trump’s presidency for the Middle East. He cautioned that Trump’s anti-Muslim sentiments and seeming closeness to Russian President Vladimir Putin would jeopardize Saudi interests, and thought the royal family’s trust in him was misplaced.
For those views, reported in The Washington Post and articulated in tweets and at a Washington think tank, he was ordered by the Saudi authorities to stop writing and speaking publicly, unleashing a chain of events that may have culminated in his disappearance and possible death inside Saudi Arabia’s Consulate in Istanbul last week."
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has heard an alleged audio recording of Jamal Khashoggi's murder inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, according to a senior Turkish official.
Speaking exclusively and on condition of anonymity to ABC News, the official claimed the recording was played in meetings in Turkey on Wednesday, and that Pompeo was given a transcript of the recordings.
Separately, ABC News has also learned that Turkish officials believe that Khashoggi was killed inside the Saudi consulate following a struggle that lasted eight minutes and that they believe he died of strangulation.
The White House referred questions to the State Department which denied Pompeo had heard the recording or seen a transcript.
Read his report from ABC on Yahoo News at:
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Turkish source says Pompeo heard recording of Khashoggi murder, State Department denies
Turkish source says Pompeo heard recording of Khashoggi murder, State Department denies originally appeared on abcnews.go.com
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has heard an alleged audio recording of Jamal Khashoggi's murder inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, according to a senior Turkish official.
Speaking exclusively and on condition of anonymity to ABC News, the official claimed the recording was played in meetings in Turkey on Wednesday, and that Pompeo was given a transcript of the recordings.
Speaking exclusively and on condition of anonymity to ABC News, the official claimed the recording was played in meetings in Turkey on Wednesday, and that Pompeo was given a transcript of the recordings.
Separately, ABC News has also learned that Turkish officials believe that Khashoggi was killed inside the Saudi consulate following a struggle that lasted eight minutes and that they believe he died of strangulation.
The White House referred questions to the State Department which denied Pompeo had heard the recording or seen a transcript.
"Secretary Pompeo has neither heard a tape nor has he seen a transcript related to Jamal Khashoggi’s disappearance," said State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert
Yesterday, on his way back from Istanbul, Pompeo was asked if he had heard the audio.
"I don’t have anything to say about that," he said.
President Trump has been publicly asking to hear the recording. Pompeo met with the president at the White House on Thursday morning to brief him on his visit to Turkey and Saudi Arabia, where he met with Saudi King Salman and Crown Prince Mohamed bin Salman.
It is unknown whether Pompeo shared the transcript with the president, but soon after the meeting the president changed his tune.
While earlier in the week the president questioned whether the audio recording existed and cautioned against blaming Saudi Arabia for Khashoggi’s disappearance, on Thursday afternoon his administration abruptly canceled a visit to Saudi Arabia by Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin to attend a large investment conference hosted by the Crown Prince, whom Turkish officials have reportedly claimed was behind Khashoggi's killing.
Later in the day, Trump told reporters that "it certainly looks like" Khashoggi was dead.
"It certainly looks that way to me, it's very sad," Trump told reporters before boarding Air Force One to attend a political rally in Montana.
The president said the consequences for Saudi Arabia, if they are ultimately deemed culpable, "will have to be very severe. It's bad, bad stuff."
For now, the president said the United States is waiting for the results of several investigations but will then make a "very strong statement."
(MORE: Trump: Saudi crown prince 'totally denied any knowledge' of what happened to Jamal Khashoggi)
On Thursday, after his meeting at the White House, Pompeo said that he told the president that the Saudis should have "a few more days" to finish their investigation into Khashoggi’s disappearance.
But Pompeo also stressed the "long strategic relationship" that the U.S. has with Saudi Arabia, and described the country as an "important counter-terrorism supporter."
Reports have been circulating for days that the Turkish government has audio recordings of Khashoggi being interrogated and murdered in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.
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