MOSCOW (Sputnik) – US President Donald Trump said on Sunday that he would receive a full report on the murder of prominent Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul within the next two days, on November 19 or 20.
“We’re studying this very closely and it’s a horrible thing that took place — the killing of a journalist. Very, very bad situation. Khashoggi, somebody who was respected. It should never have happened. And we’ll be having a very full report over the next two days, probably Monday or Tuesday,” Trump told reporters.
The president also commented on the recent media reports suggesting that the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) had already come to a conclusion that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman may have orchestrated the journalist’s murder.
“They [the CIA] haven’t assessed anything yet, it’s too early,” Trump noted.
The Washington Post newspaper, where Khashoggi had worked as a columnist, reported on November 16 that the CIA had already drawn a conclusion that the Saudi crown prince could have ordered to kill Khashoggi despite Riyadh’s claims that the prince had no involvement.
On November 15, the Saudi Prosecutor General’s Office said that the journalist had been killed with a drug injection and his body had been dismembered and taken out of the consulate, adding that a total of 21 people had been detained in relation to the case.
However, later in October, the Saudi authorities admitted that Khashoggi had died in a fight inside the consulate, adding later that the information obtained by the Saudi-Turkish joint investigation team had revealed that the murder was premeditated.
