Pompeo:

‘Handful More Weeks’ Before US Can Respond to Khashoggi Slaying

TEHRAN (defapress)- Secretary of State Mike Pompeo stated that it could be several weeks before the US formally responds to the death of Jamal Khashoggi, the Washington Post journalist, killed in a Saudi consulate in Turkey weeks ago.

News ID: 73452

Date: 02 November 2018 - 14:58

In an interview Thursday with a St. Louis radio station, Pompeo said it could be a "handful" of weeks before Washington responds to Khashoggi's killing with sanctions on individuals involved, as the administration is still in the process of gathering evidence, World News reported.

The Donald Trump administration is “reviewing putting sanctions on the individuals that we have been able to identify to date that ... were engaged in that murder", Pompeo added.

The United States has already revoked the visas of the men suspected to have been involved in Khashoggi's murder inside the consulate.

President Donald Trump has vowed that Washington will "get to the bottom" of the US-based columnist's death, and stated earlier this month after a conversation with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman that he was "not satisfied" with the Saudi government's official explanation for his death.

The Saudi government originally said that Khashoggi left the consulate after entering, before later saying that he died inside as a result of a fight that broke out between the journalist and more than a dozen men.

Trump has also said, however, that any US response will not jeopardize longstanding business relationships with Saudi Arabia.

"I don't want to lose all of that investment that's being made in our country. I don't want to lose a million jobs," Trump told reporters at the White House earlier this month.

A Turkish prosecutor has confirmed that Khashoggi was killed by “strangulation” immediately after he entered the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, adding that his body was “cut into pieces" after the murder.

The office of Istanbul’s chief prosecutor Irfan Fidan said Khashoggi was strangled as soon as he entered the diplomatic compound as part of a premeditated killing.

The statement stopped short of accusing the Saudis of non-cooperation in regards to the meeting of Saudi chief prosecutor Saud al-Mojeb and his entourage with Turkish law enforcement authorities earlier this week.

“Despite all our well-intentioned efforts to uncover the truth, we have not achieved any concrete results,” the statement noted, referring to the talks.

Turkey has been pressing the Saudis for information about the journalist’s remains as well as about the person who might have ordered the hit. Ankara also demanded extradition of all suspects in this case, arguing that the journalist was killed on Turkish territory and the investigation of this case thus falls within the jurisdiction of the Turkish authorities.

Saudi Arabia detained 18 Saudi nationals suspected of being involved in the journalist’s murder, maintaining the Kingdom itself would try the suspects and bring them to justice after the investigation was finished.

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