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PRAGUE (Reuters) – US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said Sunday he met Saudi Arabia's foreign minister and called for a transparent investigation into the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
PHOTO FILE: Defense Secretary Jim Mattis speaks with the media before the arrival of Panagiotis Kammenos, the Greek Defense Minister, at the Pentagon in Washington, DC, on October 9 2018. REUTERS / Joshua Roberts / File Photo
The assassination of Washington Post columnist Khashoggi led to a crisis for the world's largest oil exporter, while Saudi Arabia's allies reacted indignantly.
Mattis said he met with Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir on Saturday at a conference in Bahrain and discussed the assassination.
"We discussed it. You know the same thing we talked about, the need for transparency, a full investigation, "Mattis told a small group of journalists traveling to Prague with him.
"There was a total agreement from Foreign Minister Jubeir, without any reservation, he said that we needed to know what had happened and that it was very collaborative, agree" Mattis added.
US President Donald Trump said he wants to get to the bottom of things, while highlighting Riyadh's ally role against Tehran and Islamist militants, as well as a major buyer of US arms.
The Saudi prosecutor said Khashoggi 's murder was premeditated, which contradicts an earlier official statement that it was accidentally caught during a brawl at the Saudi Arabian consulate in Istanbul.
On Saturday, Mr. Jubeir told a security summit in Bahrain that relations between Riyadh and the United States were "blameless" in the midst of what he described as "a media hysteria" following the murder of Khashoggi.
At the same conference, Mattis made harsh remarks about Saudi Arabia, saying that the assassination was undermining the stability of the Middle East and that Washington would take additional measures in the Middle East. Against officials.
Earlier this month, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo met with the King and the Saudi Crown Prince to discuss the issue.
Washington has already announced measures against 21 Saudis either to revoke their visa or to make it ineligible for a US visa after Khashoggi's murder.
Asked whether the US would limit its support for the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen, Mattis said on Sunday: "We will continue to support the defense of the kingdom."
Saudi Arabia is leading an alliance of Western-backed Sunni Arab Muslim states that are trying to re-establish the internationally recognized government of Yemeni President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, evicted from the capital Sanaa by the Houthis lined up in Iran in 2015.
The United States and other Western powers provide weapons, fueling and intelligence to the alliance.
Germany has promised to end all arms exports to Saudi Arabia until Khashoggi's murder is explained.
Report by Idrees Ali; Edited by Alison Williams
