 | ||
President Donald Trump answers questions from members of the media as he leaves the White House, Saturday Nov. 17, 2018, in Washington, en route to see fire damage in California. At far left is White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
|
VietPress USA (Nov. 17, 2018): Yesterday The Washington Post reported that a source from CIA concluded that the Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman ordered the killing. The Saudi government has denied that claim. Mohammed ordered to assassinate Journalist Jamal Khashoggi on Nov. 2nd 2018 at Saudi Arabia in Istanbul.
This morning on Saturday, Nov. 17, 2018, President Donald Trump told reporters before leaving the White House for visiting victims of Camp fire in California that he is awaiting for a briefing Saturday from the CIA on the death of journalist Jamal Khashoggi after a U.S. official said American intelligence agencies had concluded that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman ordered the killing.
"We haven't been briefed yet. The CIA is going to be speaking to me today," Trump told reporters.
Trump said he will be talking with "the CIA later and lots of others" while he was on Air Force One, and would also speak with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. In his remarks outside the White House, the president spoke of Saudi Arabia as "a truly spectacular ally in terms of jobs and economic development."
Read this news from AP on Yahoo News at:
VietPress USA News
oOo
Trump expects CIA briefing Saturday on Khashoggi killing
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump awaited a briefing Saturday from the CIA on the death of journalist Jamal Khashoggi after a U.S. official said American intelligence agencies had concluded that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman ordered the killing. The Saudi government has denied that claim.Mohammed bin Salman ordered the killing. The Saudi government has denied that claim.
"We haven't been briefed yet. The CIA is going to be speaking to me today," Trump told reporters before leaving the White House for a visit to California. "As of this moment we were told that he did not play a role. We're going to have to find out what they have to say."
Trump said he will be talking with "the CIA later and lots of others" while he was on Air Force One, and would also speak with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. In his remarks outside the White House, the president spoke of Saudi Arabia as "a truly spectacular ally in terms of jobs and economic development."
"I have to take a lot of things into consideration" when deciding what measures to take against the kingdom.
The intelligence agencies' conclusion will bolster efforts in Congress to further punish the close U.S. ally for the killing. The Trump administration this past week penalized 17 Saudi officials for their alleged role in the killing, but American lawmakers have called on the administration to curtail arms sales to Saudi Arabia or take other harsher punitive measures.
The U.S. official familiar with the intelligence agencies' conclusion was not authorized to discuss it publicly and spoke only condition of anonymity Friday. The conclusion was first reported by The Washington Post.
Saudi Arabia's top diplomat has said the crown prince had "absolutely" nothing to do with the killing.
Vice President Mike Pence told reporters traveling with him at a summit of Pacific Rim nations in Papua New Guinea that he could not comment on "classified information." He said Saturday "the murder of Jamal Khashoggi was an atrocity. It was also an affront to a free and independent press, and the United States is determined to hold all of those accountable who are responsible for that murder."
The United States will "follow the facts," Pence said, while trying to find a way of preserving a "strong and historic partnership" with Saudi Arabia.
Khashoggi, a Saudi who lived in the United States, was a columnist for the Post and often criticized the royal family. He was killed Oct. 2 at the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul. Turkish and Saudi authorities say he was killed inside the consulate by a team from the kingdom after he went there to get marriage documents.
This past week, U.S. intelligence officials briefed members of the Senate and House intelligence committees, and the Treasury Department announced economic sanctions on 17 Saudi officials suspected of being responsible for or complicit in the killing.
Among those targeted for sanctions were Mohammed al-Otaibi, the diplomat in charge of the consulate, and Maher Mutreb, who was part of the crown prince's entourage on trips abroad.
The sanctions freeze any assets the 17 may have in the U.S. and prohibit any Americans from doing business with them.
Also this past week, the top prosecutor in Saudi Arabia announced he will seek the death penalty against five men suspected in the killing. The prosecutor's announcement sought to quiet the global outcry over Khashoggi's death and distance the killers and their operation from the kingdom's leadership, primarily the crown prince.
Trump has called the killing a botched operation that was carried out very poorly and has said "the cover-up was one of the worst cover-ups in the history of cover-ups."
But he has resisted calls to cut off arms sales to the kingdom and has been reluctant to antagonize the Saudi rulers. Trump considers the Saudis vital allies in his Mideast agenda.
The Post, citing unnamed sources, also reported that U.S. intelligence agencies reviewed a phone call that the prince's brother, Khalid bin Salman, had with Khashoggi. The newspaper said the prince's brother, who is the current Saudi ambassador to the United States, told Khashoggi he would be safe in going to the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul to retrieve the documents he needed to get married.
www.Vietpressusa.us
