[ad_1]
Matthew Lee and Susannah George, The Associated Press
Posted on Wednesday October 24th, 2018 at 02:22 AM EDT
WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump has described the killing of a Saudi journalist as a botched operation and a "bad original concept" as his government takes its first cautious steps to punish the Saudis by revoking visas of suspects .
Speaking to reporters at the White House, Trump said that the entire operation was a fiasco.
"They had a very bad original concept," Trump said Tuesday. "That went wrong, and the cover-up was one of the worst in the history of these cover-ups." Someone was really cheated and had the worst concealment. all time."
Even in the face of horrific details of Jamal Khashoggi's badbadination, Trump has resisted calls to reduce arms sales to the kingdom and has been reluctant to thwart Saudi leaders. Trump sees the Saudis as key allies in his Middle East agenda.
Congressmen demanded sanctions be imposed on Saudi Arabia for the murder of Khashoggi, a self-imposed exile in the United States, who had criticized Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. The writer, who collaborated with the Washington Post, disappeared on October 2 after entering the Saudi Arabian consulate in Turkey, where he went to collect documents attesting to his marriage to his Turkish bride.
Turkish officials said that a Saudi team of 15 men had tortured, killed and dismembered the writer and that Saudi officials had planned the killing for days. Saudi officials – after weeks of denials – now acknowledge that he has died, but they say that this happened accidentally during a fight at the consulate.
"It was a total fiasco," said Trump. "The process was not good.The performance was not good.And the concealment, if you want to call it so, was certainly not good."
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the decision to revoke the visa was only a first step.
The visa files are confidential and Pompeo is not more specific about the people that the revocations will affect, but the State Department then announced that 21 "Saudi suspects" would be revoked a visa or would be declared ineligible.
"These sanctions will not be the last word on the matter," Pompeo told the state department press.
The administration will continue to hold those responsible accountable.We explain very clearly that the United States does not tolerate this kind of ruthless action aimed at silencing Mr. Khashoggi, a journalist, with violence. " he declared. "Neither the president nor I are happy with this situation."
Nevertheless, Pompeo emphasized the strategic importance of US-Saudi relations.
"We continue to view as achievable the dual imperative of protecting America and empowering those responsible for killing Mr. Khashoggi," said Pompeo.
[ad_2]
Source link
