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WASHINGTON (AP) – President Donald Trump faces increasing pressure to take tougher action against Saudi Arabia following the murder of writer Jamal Khashoggi.
Trump says that Saudi Arabia is a "spectacular ally" and that he is not convinced that Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the de facto ruler of the kingdom, is directly responsible for the murder, the October 2, columnist editorial Washington Post in the Saudi consulate. in Istanbul.
But more and more calls are mobilizing so that the crown prince, who controls virtually all the main levers of power in Saudi Arabia, is aware of the operation.
The pressure comes from congressional Democrats and Republicans and American allies abroad.
The French diplomat said Monday that his country was considering sanctions against Saudi Arabia. Germany announced on Monday it had banned 18 Saudi nationals from entering the Schengen zone, bordering Europe, because of their alleged links to the killing. German officials, who had previously banned new weapons to Riyadh, also announced that they were putting an end to previously approved arms exports.
Over the weekend, Trump announced that the crown prince had ordered the "premature" assassination. He said it was "possible" and that it was also possible that people never know the truth.
Donald Trump simply says, "Will someone really know? "as if our intelligence agencies were unable to conduct an assessment," said Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore.
He added that CIA Director Gina Haspel and Intelligence Director Dan Coats were to "make known to the American people and to Congress the public assessment of the person who ordered it." assassination of Jamal Khashoggi ".
Saudi's highest diplomat claimed that the Crown Prince had "absolutely" nothing to do with Khashoggi's death, but US intelligence officials concluded that he had ordered the assassination, according to an American official familiar with the assessment. Others, accustomed to the warning that it is likely that the Crown Prince played a role in the death, continue to question his degree of participation.
Vice President Mike Pence told reporters that on Tuesday, Trump would review information about Khashoggi's death, then make his decision regarding the "extremely important strategic relationship" of the United States with Saudi Arabia, which is 39 aligns with the United States to repel Iran.
The president leaves Tuesday to spend Thanksgiving at Mar-a-Lago, his estate located in Palm Beach, Florida. The following week, the President and the Crown Prince will attend the Group of 20 summit in Buenos Aires. The Saudi media announced on Monday that the Crown Prince would be present, putting him face to face with Trump and Turkish leaders, Canadian and European, among others.
The United States has reinforced its opposition to the Saudi-led war against Houthi rebels in Yemen. Saudi air strikes in the war in Yemen killed thousands of civilians.
In recent weeks, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Defense Secretary Jim Mattis have called for a ceasefire in Yemen, and the United States has announced that it will stop supplying fuel. fuel a Saudi plane fighting the Houthis. The United States also punished 17 Saudi officials suspected of responsibility for, or accomplices in, the murder.
Senator Rand Paul, R-Ky., Said that sanctioning people already imprisoned – including some people facing the death penalty in connection with the murder – will have little effect. Paul said the president should cut arms sales to the kingdom, an action that Trump repeatedly repeated that he did not want to take.
Late last week, a group of bipartisan senators introduced a bill calling for suspending arms sales to Saudi Arabia. sanctions against those blocking the access of humanitarian organizations in Yemen or supporting Houthi rebels; and mandatory sanctions against those responsible for Khashoggi's death.
"There must be a transparent and credible investigation into the killing of Khashoggi," said New Jersey Senator Bob Menendez, the first Democrat on the Senate's External Relations Committee, introducing the bill with two Democratic colleagues and three Republicans.
"In Yemen, the recent decision by the administration to suspend US air-to-air refueling for the Saudi coalition in the absence of a real strategy to end this conflict is meaningless action" , did he declare.
Some foreign policy experts advocate a complete resetting of relations with Riyadh.
Emile Nakhleh, a former member of the CIA's intelligence services, said that since the crown prince took power three years ago, he had turned his country into an "autocracy of powerful men" that could not be trust.
"His ruthless seizure of power, the repression of potential challengers within his family and the repression of all opposition to his policies and projects in Saudi Arabia and outside Saudi Arabia have endangered US-Saudi relations Nakhleh wrote in an editorial published on Monday's online newsletter The Cipher Brief. "He feels empowered to crush his potential rivals within the ruling family through his close relationship with President Trump and Jared Kushner."
Kushner, the president's son-in-law, worked with the crown prince on various issues, including how to end the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians.
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This story has been corrected to show that Trump will be in Florida, not in New Jersey.
