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President Donald Trump met Saturday with his CIA chief and diplomat on the assessment of the spy agency regarding the assassination of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
the The CIA has intelligence This corroborates an assessment that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman allegedly ordered the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, according to a US intelligence official. The manager declined to characterize the level of confidence of the ICA evaluation.
A US official told CBS News on Friday that US intelligence services had "great confidence" in his assessment that bin Salman had ordered the assassination – an assessment based on an understanding of how Saudi Arabia works. Arabia.
Neither officer indicated that there was evidence of a direct link between bin Salman and the killing – including the day of the incident.
On Saturday, Trump called CIA Director Gina Haspel and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo of Air Force One to he flew to California Sarah Huckabee Sanders, Press Secretary, said the damage caused by the forest fires was significant. She did not provide any additional details but stated that the President trusted the CIA.
Before leaving the White House, Mr. Trump told reporters that, regarding the Crown Prince, "at that time, we were told that he was not playing a role. must say. "
In his remarks, the president spoke of Saudi Arabia as "a truly spectacular ally in terms of jobs and economic development".
"I have to take many things into account" to decide what to do against the kingdom.
The intelligence agencies' conclusion will strengthen congressional efforts to further punish the close American ally of the murder. The Trump administration has punished 17 Saudi officials for their alleged role in the killing last week, but US lawmakers have asked the administration to limit arms sales to Saudi Arabia or to take other more severe punitive measures.
A senior Saudi diplomat said that the Crown Prince had "absolutely" nothing to do with the murder.
Vice President Mike Pence told reporters who were traveling with him at a Pacific Rim country summit in Papua New Guinea that he could comment on "classified information". On Saturday, the killing of Jamal Khashoggi was an atrocity. It was also an affront to a free and independent press, and the United States is determined to hold all those responsible responsible for this murder.
The United States "will follow the facts," said Pence, while looking for a way to preserve a "strong and historic partnership" with Saudi Arabia.
Khashoggi, a Saudi resident in the United States, was a post editorialist and often criticized the royal family. He was killed on October 2 at the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul. The Turkish and Saudi authorities said he was killed inside the consulate by a team from the kingdom after he went there to obtain marriage documents.
Last week, US intelligence officials briefed members of Senate and House intelligence committees, and the Treasury Department announced economic sanctions against 17 Saudi officials suspected of being responsible for the murders or to have been accomplices of these murders. Also last week, the supreme prosecutor in Saudi Arabia announced that he would seek the death penalty against five men suspected of being responsible for this assassination.
Mr. Trump described the operation as sloppy operation conducted very badly and said that "concealment was one of the worst cover-ups in the history of concealment" . But he has resisted calls to reduce arms sales to the kingdom and has been reluctant to thwart Saudi rulers. Trump sees the Saudis as key allies in his Middle East agenda.
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