Mattis says US must reconcile rights concerns with "strategic" relations with Saudi Arabia

The United States must strike a balance between its concerns over Saudi Arabia's human rights record and the need to maintain a "strategic relationship" with the Saudis, the secretary said on Wednesday. to the Defense, Jim Mattis.

In his first detailed comments on the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi last month by Saudi agents in Istanbul, Mattis told reporters at the Pentagon that "there must be a responsibility for anyone involved in the murder, yes, I call it a murder. "

"We will not apologize for our position on human rights," he said. "We will not apologize for working with Saudi Arabia when necessary for the sake of innocent people with problems."

"Presidents are often not free to work with unblemished partners," said Mattis.

It was in the American interest to work with the Saudis to "put an end to the humanitarian catastrophe in Yemen," he said. He also said that the Saudis had contributed to the intensification of US efforts to reunite the Taliban and the Afghan government for reconciliation negotiations.

Mattis said that Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, his coalition partner in Yemen, had largely ceased "offensive operations" in the last 72 hours around Hodeida, the main Yemeni port city in Yemen. Rebel hands where Saudi air strikes hit civilian targets including: schools and prevented the delivery of humanitarian aid.

Information from the ground in and around Hodeida indicated that air strikes had stopped, although some ground skirmishes continued. The apparent cease-fire between the US-backed coalition and Iran-backed Houthi rebels comes as both sides agree to participate in US-backed peace talks, Mattis said to be held in Sweden "very very early in December".

In an extraordinary statement on Tuesday, President Trump cited the potential benefits of the United States' arms sales to Saudi Arabia and the Kingdom's investments in Saudi Arabia as one of the main reasons why the United States had solved the controversy surrounding Khashoggi.

He ignored a CIA assessment, reported by the Washington Post last week, that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman had ordered the assassination of Khashoggi, claiming "maybe he was there." did and maybe not. "

Mattis did not mention Trump's statement but said that he did not think Mohammed's involvement "was fully established, neither by the CIA nor by the Saudi government." Trump said that the United States "may never know all the facts surrounding the murder".

In an interview published Tuesday by the Saudi-based Saudi newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat, Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir said the kingdom's investigation into the murders was continuing, but that "the Saudi leaders, represented by King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammed, form a red line and we will oppose any attempt to undermine or harm them. "

According to Jubeir, the media recounted the CIA decision: "These leaks are not based on overwhelming evidence. In any case, we, the kingdom, know that such statements are totally unfounded. The Saudi government repeatedly denied that Muhammad knew of or involved in the killing. He said he had charged 11 Saudis – agents who would have been authorized by a lower level official only to capture Khashoggi and bring him back to the kingdom – to kill him.

Asked about possible negative repercussions on US arms sales and defense assistance, whose bipartisan bills submitted to Congress aim to put an end to the war in Yemen and the murder of Khashoggi, Jubeir said: "We prefer to be armed by our allies, but the commitment of Saudi Arabia land and people require it to get the weapons it needs from any one. what source ".

In his statement, Trump said that if the United States did not sell arms to Saudi Arabia, the largest purchaser of US defense equipment in the world, the Saudis would turn to Russia and China.

Jubeir criticized what he called a "media campaign and politicization" aimed at undermining Saudi Arabia's position in the world. He was particularly critical of Turkey, whose government indirectly accused Mohammed of ordering the assassination, which took place during a visit by Khashoggi at the consulate of Saudi Arabia in Istanbul.

The Foreign Minister said that the kingdom "wanted to preserve this strategic relationship and this historic partnership" with the United States "which extend over more than seven decades."

But the statements of Ankara, he said, "create a break in our relations" with Turkey.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu met in Washington on Tuesday with State Secretary Mike Pompeo and White House National Security Advisor John Bolton. Cavusoglu said the evidence that his country had amassed "do not designate anyone. But we are pretty sure that these people did not come alone and that someone gave them instructions, "he told reporters, referring to the 15-member team. Saudi agents who, according to both countries, proceeded to the assassination.

Khashoggi, who moved to Virginia last year because he feared for his safety in Saudi Arabia, was a contributor to the newspaper The Post, whose columns often criticized Mohammed. In his statement, Trump said that Saudi leaders told him that the journalist was an "enemy of the state".

Missy Ryan and John Hudson in Washington and Sudarsan Raghavan in Yemen contributed to this report.