Pompeo says 'handful more weeks' before U.S. responds to Khashoggi killing

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Thursday it would be a "handful more weeks" before the United States had enough evidence to impose sanctions in response to the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.

Pompeo, in an interview with KMOX radio in St. Louis, said President Donald Trump had made it clear Washington would respond to the killing. He said the administration is "reviewing putting sanctions on the individuals we have been able to identify to date … they are engaged in that murder."

"It's going to be more likely to actually have sanctions in place, but I think we'll be able to get there," Pompeo said.

"We're going to find the fact pattern," he said. "The president said we would have asked for accountability for those who were involved in the commission of this heinous crime."

While insisting the United States did not condone Khashoggi's killing, the U.S. top diplomat said the United States had "deep and long-term strategic relationships" with Saudi Arabia and "we intend to make sure that those relationships remain intact."

Saudi Arabia's intelligence minister, Prince Turki bin Faisal al Saud, said on Wednesday that the United States is out of control in the United States.

"We value our strategic relationship with the United States and hope to sustain it. We hope the United States reciprocates in kind, "Prince Turki, a royal family member, said in remarks to the National Council on U.S.-Arab Relations, a non-profit advocacy organization.

Khashoggi, who lived in the United States and wrote columns for the Washington Post, went to the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on Oct. 2 to collect some documents, but he never reappeared. Riyadh initially identified as suspicious in the case.

Saudi Arabia said they will face justice in the kingdom. Ankara has recently been appointed to Turkey for trial.

Turkey pressed Kashshoggi's body, which has not been recovered.