[ad_1]
Salah bin Jamal Khashoggi, a double American and Saudi citizen, had never been able to leave Saudi Arabia after his passport was restricted by the kingdom a few months ago.
US State Department spokesman Mike Pompeo urged the Saudis to release young Khashoggi. Deputy Spokesman Robert Palladino said the United States was "delighted" that he was allowed to leave the country.
Saudi officials later announced that they had identified 18 men involved in the operation, which led the state department to announce that it was blocking the visas of 21 Saudi nationals . On Thursday, Palladino said the other three people targeted by the United States belonged to the intelligence services, the royal court and a ministry of the Saudi government.
According to the Washington Post, Haspel heard an audio recording in the possession of Turkey, which would be Khashoggi's murder on October 2nd. Palladino confirmed that Pompeo had attended the Haspel meeting at the White House, but did not confirm whether he had heard the audio or seen the video that the Turkish authorities claim to own.
Trump has increasingly expressed his frustration at the Saudi response. The kingdom undertook its own investigation, led by the Crown Prince. Palladino said that the US had no timetable for the survey, but that they would like to see the results "as quickly as possible".
The consequences of killing Khashoggi damaged Saudi Arabia, tarnished the Crown Prince and raised questions about US foreign policy priorities that depend on the kingdom's funding or cooperation. Current issues have upset Trump, who is increasingly irritated by the negative coverage, and blames the Saudis for making him look bad.
On Tuesday, Trump told reporters that the Saudi authorities had staged the "worst crime concealment" and suggested to the Wall Street Journal that the crown prince may be responsible.
"The prince is leading the affairs there even more at this point," Trump told the question of bin Salman's involvement. "He's running things and so if anyone would do it, it would be him."
Michelle Kosinksi and Jennifer Hansler from CNN contributed to the story.
[ad_2]Source link