President Trump said King Salman of Saudi Arabia “denies any knowledge” of what happened to Jamal Khashoggi, the journalist who vanished after entering the Saudi…
President Trump said King Salman of Saudi Arabia “denies any knowledge” of what happened to Jamal Khashoggi, the journalist who vanished after entering the Saudi consulate in Turkey, and said he is dispatching Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to the kingdom.
“Just spoke to the King of Saudi Arabia who denies any knowledge of whatever may have happened ‘to our Saudi Arabian citizen.’ He said that they are working closely with Turkey to find answer. I am immediately sending our Secretary of State to meet with King!,” Trump wrote on Twitter.
Trump’s posting comes after Washington and Riyadh engaged in a war of words over the weekend about the disappearance of Khashoggi, a Saudi-born journalist who has been living in self-imposed exile in the United States for the past year.
Khashoggi, 59, who writes for the Washington Post, has said he feared being arrested as part of a crackdown on dissident voices by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman.
In an interview with CBS’ “60 Minutes” that aired Sunday, Trump said if it turns out Saudi Arabia was behind Khashoggi’s disappearance, “there will be severe punishment.”
Saudi Arabia responded by promising to retaliate against any threats from the White House .
“The Kingdom affirms its total rejection of any threats and attempts to undermine it, whether by threatening to impose economic sanctions, using political pressures, or repeating false accusations,” the official state-run Saudi Press Agency said on Sunday.
“The Kingdom also affirms that if it receives any action, it will respond with greater action, and that the Kingdom’s economy has an influential and vital role in the global economy,” it continued.
Khashoggi disappeared after entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on Oct. 2.
Turkish officials say they believe a Saudi hit team that landed in Turkey the same day, killed him, dismembered his body and removed it from the country.
Saudi Arabia has denied the accusations.
