WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Trump administration is pressing Saudi Arabia to show “tangible progress” toward holding to account those behind the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi and wants them to do so before the one-year anniversary of his murder, a senior administration official said.

FILE PHOTO: An Indonesian journalist holds a placard during a protest over the disappearance of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi in front of the Saudi Arabia embassy in Jakarta, Indonesia, October 19, 2018. REUTERS/Beawiharta/File Photo

Pushing back against critics who have accused President Donald Trump of letting the Saudis off the hook after Khashoggi’s death, the official told Reuters this week the message to the kingdom is that it remains a “very hot issue” and “they need to take it seriously.”

Republican and Democratic lawmakers, citing evidence of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s role in the Khashoggi case and incensed over the civilian toll from the Saudi air campaign in Yemen, have ramped up efforts to block Trump’s arms sales to Saudi Arabia.

The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the Saudis needed to complete their investigation and take action ahead of the anniversary but did not specify any consequences if they failed to do so. The Trump administration has so far taken only minimal steps.

Khashoggi, a Washington Post columnist and U.S. resident who had become a vocal critic of the prince, disappeared after entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on Oct. 2. Eleven Saudi suspects have been put on trial in secretive proceedings but only a few hearings have been held since January.

“There will be increased sensitivity around the anniversary,” the official said. “It would be in everyone’s best interest to have some tangible progress by then.”

The CIA has determined with “medium to high confidence” that the crown prince, commonly known by his initials MbS and considered de facto ruler of Saudi Arabia, ordered the killing, U.S. government sources have said. The spy agency has continued to monitor and gather information but is not conducting a full-scale inquiry, a U.S. official said.

Saudi officials have denied involvement by Prince Mohammed.

Trump has expressed doubts about the CIA assessment and argued that Washington must not risk its alliance with Riyadh, the cornerstone of U.S. security policy in the Gulf regarded as a regional counterweight to Iran.

Khashoggi’s murder tarnished the crown prince’s reputation internationally. He has pushed ahead with an ambitious domestic agenda accompanied by a crackdown on dissent.

Trump drew a furious reaction from Congress last month when he declared that the threat from Iran was an emergency that forced him to bypass lawmakers and sell $8 billion in arms to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

Democratic U.S. Senator Chris Murphy this week accused the administration of “turning a blind eye” to Khashoggi’s murder.

The administration is making clear to the Saudis the controversy will persist until they demonstrate a “very clear case of culpability,” the senior administration official said.

White House adviser and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, who has cultivated a close relationship with MbS, declined to blame the crown prince for Khashoggi’s death in an interview with Axios this month.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in March the administration was still working “all across the government” to identify those responsible. </s> Dear Reader, As you can imagine, more people are reading The Jerusalem Post than ever before. Nevertheless, traditional business models are no longer sustainable and high-quality publications, like ours, are being forced to look for new ways to keep going. Unlike many other news organizations, we have not put up a paywall. We want to keep our journalism open and accessible and be able to keep providing you with news and analysis from the frontlines of Israel, the Middle East and the Jewish World.

The Trump administration is pressing Saudi Arabia to show "tangible progress" toward holding to account those behind the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi and wants them to do so before the one-year anniversary of his murder, a senior administration official said. 



Pushing back against critics who have accused President Donald Trump of letting the Saudis off the hook after Khashoggi’s death, the official told Reuters this week the message to the kingdom is that it remains a "very hot issue" and "they need to take it seriously."



Republican and Democratic lawmakers, citing evidence of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s role in the Khashoggi case and incensed over the civilian toll from the Saudi air campaign in Yemen, have ramped up efforts to block Trump’s arms sales to Saudi Arabia.The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the Saudis needed to complete their investigation and take action ahead of the anniversary but did not specify any consequences if they failed to do so. The Trump administration has so far taken only minimal steps.Khashoggi, a Washington Post columnist and U.S. resident who had become a vocal critic of the prince, disappeared after entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on Oct. 2. Eleven Saudi suspects have been put on trial in secretive proceedings but only a few hearings have been held since January."There will be increased sensitivity around the anniversary," the official said. "It would be in everyone's best interest to have some tangible progress by then."The CIA has determined with "medium to high confidence" that the crown prince, commonly known by his initials MbS and considered de facto ruler of Saudi Arabia, ordered the killing, U.S. government sources have said. The spy agency has continued to monitor and gather information but is not conducting a full-scale inquiry, a U.S. official said.Saudi officials have denied involvement by Prince Mohammed.Trump has expressed doubts about the CIA assessment and argued that Washington must not risk its alliance with Riyadh, the cornerstone of U.S. security policy in the Gulf regarded as a regional counterweight to Iran.Khashoggi's murder tarnished the crown prince's reputation internationally. He has pushed ahead with an ambitious domestic agenda accompanied by a crackdown on dissent.Trump drew a furious reaction from Congress last month when he declared that the threat from Iran was an emergency that forced him to bypass lawmakers and sell $8 billion in arms to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.Democratic U.S. Senator Chris Murphy this week accused the administration of "turning a blind eye" to Khashoggi’s murder.The administration is making clear to the Saudis the controversy will persist until they demonstrate a "very clear case of culpability," the senior administration official said.White House adviser and Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner, who has cultivated a close relationship with MbS, declined to blame the crown prince for Khashoggi's death in an interview with Axios this month. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in March the administration was still working "all across the government" to identify those responsible.

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For more information and to sign up, click here>> </s> Pushing back against critics who have accused President Donald Trump of letting the Saudis off the hook after Khashoggi’s death, the official told Reuters this week the message to the kingdom is that it remains a "very hot issue" and "they need to take it seriously."

Republican and Democratic lawmakers, citing evidence of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s role in the Khashoggi case and incensed over the civilian toll from the Saudi air campaign in Yemen, have ramped up efforts to block Trump’s arms sales to Saudi Arabia.

The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the Saudis needed to complete their investigation and take action ahead of the anniversary but did not specify any consequences if they failed to do so. The Trump administration has so far taken only minimal steps.

Khashoggi, a Washington Post columnist and US resident who had become a vocal critic of the prince, disappeared after entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on Oct 2. Eleven Saudi suspects have been put on trial in secretive proceedings but only a few hearings have been held since January.

"There will be increased sensitivity around the anniversary," the official said. "It would be in everyone's best interest to have some tangible progress by then."

The CIA has determined with "medium to high confidence" that the crown prince, commonly known by his initials MbS and considered de facto ruler of Saudi Arabia, ordered the killing, US government sources have said. The spy agency has continued to monitor and gather information but is not conducting a full-scale inquiry, a US official said.

Trump has expressed doubts about the CIA assessment and argued that Washington must not risk its alliance with Riyadh, the cornerstone of US security policy in the Gulf regarded as a regional counterweight to Iran.

Khashoggi's murder tarnished the crown prince's reputation internationally. He has pushed ahead with an ambitious domestic agenda accompanied by a crackdown on dissent.

Trump drew a furious reaction from Congress last month when he declared that the threat from Iran was an emergency that forced him to bypass lawmakers and sell $8 billion in arms to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

Democratic US Senator Chris Murphy this week accused the administration of "turning a blind eye" to Khashoggi’s murder.

The administration is making clear to the Saudis the controversy will persist until they demonstrate a "very clear case of culpability," the senior administration official said.

White House adviser and Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner, who has cultivated a close relationship with MbS, declined to blame the crown prince for Khashoggi's death in an interview with Axios this month.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in March the administration was still working "all across the government" to identify those responsible. </s> Saudi Arabia has admitted Jamal Khashoggi was killed inside its consulate in the Turkish city of Istanbul.

Khashoggi - a Saudi writer, US resident and Washington Post columnist - entered the building on October 2 to obtain documentation certifying he had divorced his ex-wife so he could remarry.

After weeks of repeated denials that it had anything to do with his disappearance, the kingdom eventually acknowledged that the murder was premeditated. The whereabouts of his body are still unknown.

Here are the latest developments:

Trump and Macron say Saudi must give details on Khashoggi killing - report

US President Donald Trump and his French counterpart, Emmanuel Macron, agreed on Saturday that Saudi Arabia needs to shed full light on the events surrounding Khashoggi's murder, Reuters news agency reported, citing a French presidency source.

The two leaders also said the issue should not be allowed to cause further destabilisation in the Middle East and that it could create an opportunity to find a political resolution to the war in Yemen, the official said.

Trump and Macron are in Paris to commemorate the end of World War I.

Erdogan: Turkey shared Khashoggi tapes with Saudi, US and others

Turkey has given recordings on the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi to Saudi Arabia, the United States, Germany, France and Britain, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Saturday.

Turkish sources have said previously that authorities have an audio recording purportedly documenting the murder.

Speaking before his departure for France to attend commemorations to mark the 100th anniversary of the end of World War One, Erdogan said Saudi Arabia knows the killer of Jamal Khashoggi is among a group of 15 people who arrived in Turkey one day ahead of the October 2 killing.

"We gave the tapes. We gave them to Saudi Arabia, to the United States, Germans, French and British, all of them. They have listened to all the conversations in them. They know,"Erdogan said.

Turkish police are ending the search for the journalist's body, but the criminal investigation into the Saudi journalist's murder will continue, sources told Al Jazeera.

Al Jazeera has learned on Friday that traces of acid were found at the Saudi consul-general's residence in Istanbul, where the body was believed to be disposed of with use of chemicals.

The residence is at walking distance from the Saudi consulate, where Khashoggi was allegedly killed by a team of Saudi officers and officials.

Istanbul's chief prosecutor said on October 31 that Khashoggi was strangled as soon as he entered the consulate and that his body was dismembered, in the first official comments on the case.

Norway announced on Friday that it was suspending new licenses for arms exports to Saudi Arabia following recent developments in the Gulf kingdom and the situation in Yemen.

"We have decided that in the present situation, we will not give new licenses for the export of defence material or multipurpose goods for military use to Saudi Arabia," Foreign Minister Ine Eriksen Soereide said in a statement.

While Khashoggi's murder was not mentioned, the statement said the decision had been taken following "a broad assessment of recent developments in Saudi Arabia and the unclear situation in Yemen".

The announcement came a week after Norway's foreign minister summoned the Saudi ambassador to Oslo to protest Khashoggi's assassination.

Germany said last month that it would halt its arms exports to Saudi Arabia until the killing of Khashoggi was explained.

Khashoggi's fiancee shocked by reports his body was dissolved

Hatice Cengiz, Khashoggi's fiancee, has expressed "shock and sadness" over reports suggesting that his body may have been dissolved with chemicals.

Cengiz said on Twitter late Thursday that Khashoggi's killers had deprived his loved ones of conducting funeral prayers and burying him in the holy city of Medina as he had wished.

In a message to The Associated Press on Friday, Cengiz said she has not received any information from officials to confirm the reports.

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman told a group of American evangelical leaders earlier this month that those responsible for Khashoggi's killing would be punished.

He also stressed that the crisis must not shift focus away from Iran's threat to the region and the world, according to the delegation's organiser.

In an article posted on Axios, a news website, Barak Ravid of Israel's Channel 10 news quotes Joel Rosenberg as saying bin Salman accused his "enemies" of exploiting Khashoggi's murder, which he called a "heinous act".

Axios: MBS met US evangelicals, said Khashoggi's killers would be punished

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman told a group of American evangelical leaders on November 1 that those responsible for Khashoggi's killing would be punished but stressed that the crisis must not shift focus away from Iran's threat to the region and the world, according to the delegation's organiser.

In an article posted on Axios, a news website, Barak Ravid of Israel's Channel 10 news quotes Joel

Rosenberg as saying bin Salman accused his "enemies" of exploiting Khashoggi's murder, which he called a "heinous act".

The meeting, which lasted some two hours, was scheduled before the Khashoggi crisis erupted.

A source in the Turkish attorney general's office told Al Jazeera that the investigative team found traces of hydrofluoric acid and other chemicals inside a well at the Saudi consul general's home in Istanbul.

The source said the killers dissolved the journalist's dismembered body in acid in one of the rooms at Consul General Mohammed al-Otaibi's residence.

Al Jazeera's Andrew Simmons, reporting from Istanbul, said the residence was searched by Turkish investigators two weeks after the killing.

"It would appear, according to the source that during that two week period, acid was used to dispose of the dismembered body of Jamal Khashoggi."

Israeli spyware technology may have been used to track down, kill Khashoggi: Snowden

Software made by Israeli-based cybersecurity firm NSO Group Technologies may have been used to track down Khashoggi, fugitive US whistle-blower Edward Snowden told an Israeli audience via video conference.

Snowden said the phone of one of Khashoggi's friends, Omar Abdulaziz - who lives in exile in Canada - had been infected with NSO's Pegasus spyware. The whistle-blower, who now lives in Russia, said the software allowed Saudis to collect information about Khashoggi through Abdulaziz.

"The Saudis, of course, knew that Khashoggi was going to go to the consulate, as he got an appointment. But how did they know his intention and plans?"

"[NSO Group] is the worst of the worst in selling these burglary tools, that are being actively used to violate the human rights of dissidents, opposition figures, activists, to some pretty bad players," Snowden said, "but they are not alone."

US President Donald Trump has said he will have a "much stronger opinion" on the killing of dissident Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi "over the next week".

Trump said he is working with the US Congress, Turkey and Saudi Arabia on solving the October 2 killing at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.

"I am forming a very strong opinion," the US president said during a press conference at the White House.

Saudi Arabia's king has begun a domestic tour with a first stop in the conservative heartland of Qassim province, where he pardoned prisoners serving time on finance charges and announced 16bn riyals - about $4.27bn - in new projects.

This is King Salman's first such tour since he ascended to the throne in 2015 and comes as the kingdom faces international pressure following the killing of writer Jamal Khashoggi in the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul last month.

The state-run news agency reported on Wednesday that the government would pay debts of up to 1m riyals, or $267 000, on behalf of each of the pardoned prisoners.

CIA chief has seen all evidence in relation to Khashoggi murder - source

A Turkish security source has told Al Jazeera that CIA Director Gina Haspel has seen all the evidence related to Khashoggi's killing.

The evidence proves the operation was carried out on orders from the highest level of leadership in Saudi Arabia, the source added.

Haspel was in Turkey last week to review evidence before briefing US President Donald Trump in Washington, DC.

Turkish sources also said that Saudi Arabia would pay "blood money" or compensation to Khashoggi's family and his fiancee.

Turkish media have reported that staff at Saudi Arabia's consulate in Istanbul tried to dismantle security cameras to help cover up the murder of Khashoggi.

The pro-government Sabah newspaper reported that the Saudis tried to rip out the camera inside the consulate on October 2, the day Khashoggi was murdered.

They also tried to tamper with cameras at the police security booth outside the building.

According to the report, at 01:00 on October 6, a consulate member staff went into the police security post outside the Saudi consulate to access the video system.

Sabah reported that the staff member put a digital lock code into the system, which did not dismantle any cameras but rather was intended to prevent access to any videos showing movement at the entrance, including Khashoggi's arrival at the consulate.

Al Jazeera's Andrew Simmons reporting from Istanbul said that their attempt was, in any case, irrelevant because the police had already deciphered the coding and accessed the system, retrieving a copy of the video well ahead of the attempt of tampering.

"All of this demonstrates, according to Turkish officials, in terms of the ... whole set of procedures, that there was an effort by the Saudi Arabian consulate to once again tamper with evidence," Simmons said.

"This follows a pattern of leaks which demonstrate beyond any doubt, according to the Turks, that the Saudis weren't out to investigate a murder, they were out to cover it up."

Khashoggi's sons appeal for return of his body

The sons of the slain Saudi journalist issued an appeal for the return of their father's body and said they wanted to return to Saudi Arabia to bury him.

In an interview with CNN, Salah and Abdullah Khashoggi said without their father's body, their family is unable to grieve and deal with the emotional burden of their father's death.

"It's not a normal situation, it's not a normal death at all. All what we want right now is to bury him in Al-Baqi [cemetery] in Medina [Saudi Arabia] with the rest of his family," Salah Khashoggi said.

"I talked about that with the Saudi authorities and I just hope that it happens soon."

Salah Khashoggi on October 24 met the crown prince and King Salman in Riyadh to receive condolences along with other Khashoggi family members. Salah departed for Washington a day later, and his CNN interview was his first public comment since then.

He said King Salman assured him those involved in Khashoggi's murder would be brought to justice.

"We just need to make sure that he rests in peace," Salah Khashoggi said of his father. "Until now, I still can't believe that he's dead. It's not sinking in with me emotionally," he said, adding there had been a lot of "misinformation" about the circumstances of the death.

Salah said accusations that his father was a supporter of the Muslim Brotherhood organisation were not true.

Asked how Khashoggi should be remembered, Salah replied, "As a moderate man who has common values with everyone ... a man who loved his country, who believed so much in it and its potential."

"Jamal was never a dissident. He believed in the monarchy, that it is the thing that is keeping the country together. And he believed in the transformation that it is going through."

Countries gathered at the UN in Geneva to review Saudi Arabia's rights record as it faces a torrent of international condemnation over Khashoggi's murder.

Monday's so-called Universal Periodic Review - which all 193 UN member states must undergo every four years - is likely to also focus on Saudi Arabia's role in Yemen's brutal civil war. Washington, which has long backed the Saudi-led coalition, called last week for an end to air attacks in the country.

The Saudi delegation in Geneva will be headed by Bandar Al Aiban, who serves as the head of the country's Human Rights Commission.

The delegation will present a report over the country's efforts to live up to its international human rights obligations and will respond to questions and comments from countries around the world on its record.

Activists are urging countries not to hold back.

"UN member states must end their deafening silence on Saudi Arabia and do their duty of scrutinising the cruelty in the kingdom in order to prevent further outrageous human rights violations in the country and in Yemen," Samah Hadid, Amnesty International's Middle East director of campaigns, said in a statement.

"The Saudi government's long-standing repression of critics, exemplified by the extrajudicial execution of journalist Jamal Khashoggi last month, has until recently been wilfully ignored by UN member states."

A number of countries have already submitted lists of detailed questions for the review, including direct questions from Britain, Austria and Switzerland on the Khashoggi case.

Sweden, meanwhile, is planning to ask: "What measures will be taken to improve the respect for the freedom of expression and the safety of journalists in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia?"

Click here for all previous updates </s> Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince, who is suspected of orchestrating the murder of Jamal Khashoggi, was reportedly baffled by why the journalist’s disappearance sparked such a backlash.

Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince, who is suspected of orchestrating the murder of Jamal Khashoggi, was reportedly baffled by why the journalist’s disappearance sparked such a backlash.

WHEN news of Jamal Khashoggi's disappearance began making global headlines, Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince had one distinct feeling. It wasn't fear. It wasn't remorse.

Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who is suspected of orchestrating the murder of the 59-year-old Saudi journalist, was reportedly baffled by why his abrupt disappearance sparked such a backlash around the world.

When Turkish investigators began to reveal their findings and anger took hold of the community, the Saudi leader was so shocked that he called White House adviser Jared Kushner to have it explained to him, the Wall Street Journal reported.

According to the newspaper, bin Salman was perplexed and angry that the incident had escalated into a diplomatic crisis.

He called Mr Kushner - Donald Trump's son-in-law and adviser on the Middle East - on October 10, eight days after Khashoggi went missing.

Why the outrage, the Prince asked in English. He couldn't understand why government officials and business leaders were now boycotting rather than praising him.

 The Saudi Government has detained 18 people in connection with Khashoggi's murder. Two senior officials, both close aides of the Prince, have lost their jobs.

International pressure continues to mount against bin Salman and the Saudis, with France, Germany, the UK and the US pushing for the truth to be revealed.

Numerous companies and prominent individuals around the world are now backing away from doing business with the kingdom.

Representatives from more than a dozen Western news outlets, including The New York Times, The Financial Times, Bloomberg and The Economist, have removed their media sponsorship and withdrawn from an upcoming international conference to be hosted by the Crown Prince, according to Axios.

At the same time, top tech executives are pulling away from the Neom project advisory board, an ambitious $700 billion project spruiked by the kingdom as a sustainable futuristic megacity.

 Apple's chief design officer Jony Ive, former US secretary of energy Ernest Moniz, Sidewalk Labs CEO Dan Doctoroff and former vice president of the European Commission for Digital Agenda Neelie Kroes have all suspended their involvement in the project.

And Hollywood agency Endeavour Content is pulling out of a $560 million investment deal in the country, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Two inside sources said Mr Kushner urged bin Salman to get to the bottom of the journalist's disappearance as soon as possible.

"He was really shocked that there was such a big reaction to it," said a person close to the royal court. "He feels betrayed by the West. He said he would look elsewhere and he will never forget how people turned against him before evidence was produced."

Mr Kushner is close to the Crown Prince. According to CNN, they sometimes directly text on WhatsApp.

The White House adviser has been relatively quiet on the Khashoggi crisis, but a recent New York Times report claimed he was urging Mr Trump to stand by Saudi Arabia, believing the Prince's legacy could survive the storm of criticism.

In a subsequent interview with CNN's Van Jones, Mr Kushner revealed he urged the Crown Prince to be "fully transparent" about the death.

Asked what he told the Saudi leader during the phone chat, he said: "Just to be transparent, to be fully transparent. The world is watching. This is a very, very serious accusation and a very serious situation."

When asked if he thinks the Prince will listen to his advice, he said: "We'll see."

He also noted the US had its "eyes wide open" and said the country was not "reliant" on Saudi Arabia for its Middle East strategy.

"Right now as an administration, we're more in the fact-finding phase," he said. "Then we'll determine which facts are credible."

President Donald Trump has flipped between defending and hitting out at Saudi Arabia.

He initially warned the kingdom would face "severe punishment" if it was found to be involved in Khashoggi's murder, but later called for a presumption of innocence, comparing it to the sexual assault allegations against Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh.

Yesterday, Mr Trump said US investigators were in Saudi Arabia and Turkey, and that he'd know more about the circumstances surrounding Khashoggi's death in due time.

"I'm not satisfied with what I've heard," he said of the Saudi Government.

Mr Kushner defended the Mr Trump's stance. "The President is focused on what is good for America; what are our strategic interests," he said.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan says he will reveal the details about what happened to slain journalist Jamal Khashoggi this week.

"We are looking for justice here and this will be revealed in all its naked truth, not through some ordinary steps but in all its naked truth," President Erdogan told a rally in Istanbul.

Mr Erdogan said he will "go into detail" about the case, which has been veiled in mystery and scepticism as the world's powers demand a credible version of events.

Mr Erdogan is expected to deliver his findings to parliament at around 0800 GMT (6pm AEDT) today. </s> Secretary of State Mike Pompeo arrived in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on Tuesday morning for urgent meetings with King Salman bin Abdulaziz, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, and Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir to discuss the disappearance of Jamal Khashoggi.

Turkish officials said they expect Pompeo to visit Ankara next, bringing important information about the case from the Saudis.

Rumors swirled on Tuesday morning that the Saudis are on the verge of admitting they killed Khashoggi in their consulate in Istanbul two weeks ago, an admission that would shake up the power structure of the Middle East, seriously damage American policy in the region, and potentially touch off a political crisis in Washington. Saudi officials have not commented on the reports, based on unnamed “sources.”

The U.S. State Department reported on Tuesday that Pompeo discussed a “range of regional and bilateral issues” with Foreign Minister al-Jubeir in addition to stressing “U.S. concern over Jamal Khashoggi’s disappearance.”

Pompeo thanked King Salman for “Saudi Arabia’s strong partnership with the United States,” and also for his “commitment to supporting a thorough, transparent, and timely investigation of Jamal Khashoggi’s disappearance.”

In a similar conversation with the crown prince, Pompeo stated the Trump administration’s desire to “determine what happened” to Khashoggi and welcomed bin Salman’s support for a “thorough, transparent, and timely investigation that provides answers.”

According to CNN, Pompeo met with King Salman for 15 minutes and spent no more than 40 minutes talking to Crown Prince bin Salman. Pompeo and the crown prince are scheduled to speak at greater length at dinner on Tuesday evening.

Behind the scenes, numerous media outlets quoted anonymous inside sources who said the Saudi monarchy is preparing to admit that, contrary to its vociferous previous denials, Saudi agents did murder Khashoggi within the Istanbul consulate.

The CBS News version of this story quoted “officials” who are “close to the kingdom” claiming the monarchy will admit Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman approved an operation to detain Khashoggi and interrogate him when he visited the consulate to obtain papers necessary for his impending marriage. These sources said Khashoggi “died as a result of an interrogation by Saudi operatives that went wrong.”

CBS then quoted a third source who claimed the story will be that a “general close to the crown prince” ordered the operation on his own, as discovered by the joint investigation Saudi Arabia has been conducting with Turkey. The statement of culpability will supposedly state this general “exceeded his authority and will be held accountable.”

This storyline is problematic for a number of reasons, not least that King Salman personally informed U.S. President Donald Trump in a phone call over the weekend that Saudi Arabia had absolutely nothing to do with Khashoggi’s disappearance. For the past two weeks, the Saudis claimed Khashoggi left the Istanbul consulate peacefully and then vanished. They have not been able to provide any evidence in the form of security video or documentation to back up this claim.

The Turkish government has allegedly been the source of sensational stories about Khashoggi suffering torture, death, and dismemberment at the hands of a 15-member death squad sent from Saudi Arabia to the consulate on the day of his disappearance. Among other details, these stories have claimed he was dismembered with a bone saw after his death, his body parts were either smuggled out of the consulate or dissolved in acid, and his Apple Watch recorded horrifying audio of his death by torture.

None of the evidence described in Turkish media leaks appears to have been shared with outside analysts, presented to the media, or confirmed by named government sources, although it is possible investigators from the U.S. or other countries have reviewed the material without making any public statement or backstage leaks yet.

The Turkish government has been somewhat less accusatory than the individuals anonymously leaking to Turkish and international media, but on Tuesday President Recep Tayyip Erdogan directly accused the Saudi consulate of concealing evidence from investigators.

“My hope is that we can reach conclusions that will give us a reasonable opinion as soon as possible, because the investigation is looking into many things such as toxic materials and those materials being removed by painting them over,” Erdogan said at a press conference on Tuesday after Turkish investigators entered the consulate for the first time. The “toxic material” in question would most likely be the acid supposedly used to dissolve Khashoggi’s remains.

Relations between Turkey and Saudi Arabia have become strained enough to require Pompeo act as mediator. Turkey’s Yeni Safak, a newspaper strongly supportive of President Erdogan and his administration, reported on Tuesday that Pompeo will bring “information” from the Saudis on the next leg of his emergency trip to the Middle East.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said Turkish prosecutors may “ask for the testimony” of Saudi consular officials and then held the door open for the Saudi consul general to flee Turkey ahead of the investigation if he feels compelled to avoid giving testimony.

“If any Saudi diplomat wants to go to their country, they can go. There is no restriction,” said Cavusoglu, essentially dropping a rake on the ground and inviting the Saudis to step on it.

U.N. human rights chief Michelle Bachelet on Tuesday called on Saudi Arabia to waive all diplomatic privileges for consular officials and cooperate fully with the investigation.

“Under international law, both a forced disappearance and an extra-judicial killing are very serious crimes, and immunity should not be used to impede investigations into what happened and who is responsible,” Bachelet stated.

Between the U.N. statements and Pompeo’s trip to Riyadh, the maximum possible space has been created for Saudi Arabia to make the next move, but the window of polite opportunity will only stay open for a few days.

Saudi Arabia could be facing a major internal crisis. It is certainly possible to demote a crown prince – that is how Mohammed bin Salman got the job – but bin Salman is an extraordinarily powerful crown prince who holds numerous important offices in the Saudi government and is chiefly responsible for the ambitious reform agenda that was intended to show foreign partners and investors Saudi Arabia is now a stable and modern place to do business. In other words, bin Salman spent the past few years trying to convince the world Saudi Arabia is not the sort of country that would lure a man into a consulate and torture him to death while his fiancee waited outside.

A political crisis may be brewing in Washington as well. A portion of the Republican caucus is making it clear they expect strong action against the Saudis if they murdered Khashoggi.

Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) on Sunday called for Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin to cancel his trip to Saudi Arabia for the “Davos in the Desert” investment conference to be hosted by Crown Prince bin Salman later this month.

Senator Lindsay Graham (R-SC), who became a surprisingly ferocious ally of the Trump administration during the confirmation battle for Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, declared on Tuesday that Crown Prince bin Salman “has got to go,” and he is ready to “sanction the hell” out of Saudi Arabia over the disappearance of Jamal Khashoggi.

“I feel personally offended. They have nothing but contempt for us,” Graham said of the Saudis. “[The Crown Prince] is a wrecking ball. He had this guy murdered in a consulate in Turkey, and to expect me to ignore it – I feel used and abused.” </s> US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has met King Salman in Saudi Arabia, as pressure grows on the Saudis to explain the fate of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

Mr Khashoggi was last seen at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul two weeks ago.

Turkish officials believe Mr Khashoggi was murdered by Saudi agents but the Saudis have denied this.

However, US media are reporting that the Saudis may be preparing to admit that Mr Khashoggi died as a result of an interrogation that went wrong.

Overnight, Turkish police completed a search of the consulate after being admitted by Saudi authorities.

The secretary of state has now begun talks in Riyadh, looking for the king to expand on his conversation with President Donald Trump on Monday.

Tweeting about the call, Mr Trump said: “Just spoke to the king of Saudi Arabia who denies any knowledge of whatever may have happened ‘to our Saudi Arabian citizen’.”

There is a lot at stake given the strength of Saudi-US ties. Mr Trump has already ruled out cancelling a lucrative arms deal, although he did threaten “severe punishment” if the kingdom were found to be responsible for the death.

King Salman ordered an investigation into the missing journalist on Monday. Saudi statements up to now have dismissed allegations of a killing as “baseless” and “lies”.

The kingdom has also angrily rejected what it called political and economic “threats”, saying it would respond to any punitive action, such as sanctions, “with a bigger one”.

Reflecting the growing pressure on Saudi Arabia, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet on Tuesday demanded that the kingdom and Turkey reveal all that they know about the case.

She said that the diplomatic inviolability of the consulate and the diplomatic immunity of officials should be waived during the investigation.

It appeared in the New York Times and on CNN, quoting unnamed sources.

They said Saudi Arabia would acknowledge that Mr Khashoggi’s death was the result of an interrogation that went wrong and the intention had been only to abduct him from Turkey.

This may explain in part Mr Trump’s “rogue killers” line.

Who such killers could be and how it fits into reports of a Saudi team being despatched to the consulate before Mr Khashoggi’s arrival will presumably need to covered.

CNN said the Saudis may argue the operation was conducted without clearance and those responsible would be held accountable.

The Khashoggi family in Saudi Arabia issued a statement calling for an “independent and impartial international commission”.

For the first time since the journalist disappeared on 2 October, Turkish investigators were allowed to enter the building.

A Saudi team entered first on Monday, followed roughly an hour later by Turkish forensic police.

The Turkish investigators, some wearing overalls, gloves and covered shoes. stayed for about eight hours, leaving in the early hours of Tuesday.

They reportedly took with them samples, including of soil from the consulate garden.

Saudi Arabia agreed last week to allow Turkish officials to conduct a search but insisted it would only be a superficial “visual” inspection.

Turkey rejected that offer. The Sabah daily newspaper said investigators had wanted to search the building with luminol, a chemical which shows up any traces of blood. It is not clear whether that happened.

Reports on Tuesday said Istanbul police would also search the Saudi consul’s residence. </s> • Mike Pompeo reportedly gave Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman 72 hours to explain what happened to journalist Jamal Khashoggi on Tuesday.
• That time is now up – and the Saudis haven’t said anything further about his mysterious disappearance.
• The meeting was at around 3 p.m. local time in Riyadh on Tuesday, meaning the deadline hit at 8 a.m New York time on Friday.
• Khashoggi was a US resident and often criticized the Saudi regime in his Washington Post columns.
• He went into the Saudi consulate in Istanbul earlier this month, and never came out. The Saudis are suspected of foul play.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo reportedly gave Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman 72 hours to “own” the Jamal Khashoggi disaster, and as of 8 a.m. EDT on Friday his time is up.

In the meeting in Riyadh on Tuesday – which finished at around 3 p.m. Saudi time – Pompeo told the Crown Prince he must “own” the disaster and has 72 hours to sort it out, an Axios source said.

The deadline has just passed, and the Saudi regime has yet to come forward with new information or an explanation that holds water.

At the meeting, Pompeo told the Crown Prince that time was “limited” because of rising global pressure to solve the mystery, the Axios report says.

The meeting lasted between 30-45 minutes and the pair dined together that evening too, CNN reported.

A US State Department press release from Pompeo on Tuesday said President Donald Trump told him it was “essential to determine what happened to Jamal Khashoggi,” and Pompeo wrote in the press release that he “had done just that.”

Pompeo wrote: “I emphasized the importance of conducting a thorough, transparent, and timely investigation, and the Saudi leadership pledged to deliver precisely on that.”

The exact start time of the meeting was not revealed by the US State Department or Saudi authorities, but live reports from journalists in Riyadh, and press photographs from news agency Reuters, place the meeting’s end at around 3 p.m. local time.

The Daily Beast on Tuesday reported that Saudi officials plan to pin Khashoggi’s death on an unnamed Saudi two-star general, citing two anonymous sources familiar with the matter.
• Here’s everything we know about the troubling disappearance of the Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi
• Trump is placing his trust in someone who is either lying or can’t stop his henchmen from brutally killing journalists
• Top Senate Democrat slams Trump’s response to Khashoggi killing, says president is making US look ‘weaker’ than ever by kowtowing to Saudis
• Jamal Khashoggi’s disappearance is an ’embarrassing’ ‘crisis’ for Trump and ‘one of the roughest foreign-policy challenges’ he’s faced yet, experts say
• Missing journalist Jamal Khashoggi had a complicated past involving interviews with Osama bin Laden and close ties to the Saudi royal family
• Lindsey Graham says ‘toxic’ Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman had Khashoggi ‘murdered’ and can ‘never be a world leader’
• Trump touts Saudi king’s ‘very strong’ denial and says ‘rogue killers’ could be responsible for Khashoggi disappearance
• Trump officials dodge questions on US support for Saudi Arabia amid Khashoggi crisis </s> WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Republican members of Congress pushed back on Wednesday against President Donald Trump's plan to sell $8 billion in weapons to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, saying it was "unfortunate" the administration used an emergency declaration to avoid Congressional review.

Members of Congress had been blocking sales of military equipment to Saudi Arabia and the UAE for months, angry about the deaths of civilians in their air campaign in Yemen, as well as human rights abuses such as the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi at a Saudi consulate in Turkey last year.

The Trump administration is pressing Riyadh to show "tangible progress" toward holding to account https://www.reuters.com/article/us-saudi-khashoggi-usa/u-s-pushes-for-saudi-progress-on-khashoggi-probe-before-anniversary-of-killing-idUSKCN1TC2RY those behind Khashoggi's killing, a senior administration official said on Tuesday.

The ranking Republican on the U.S. House of Representatives Foreign Affairs committee, Michael McCaul, said at a hearing on Wednesday that he supports "the efforts of Saudi Arabia to defend themselves against Iran," but "the recent use of this emergency authority, in my judgment, was unfortunate."

Another Republican, Representative Ann Wagner, asked for a better understanding of the administration's move to sidestep congressional oversight given Saudi Arabia's human rights abuses.

Citing an Iran-related emergency, the Trump administration told congressional committees on May 24 that it would go ahead with 22 military deals worth $8.1 billion to Saudi Arabia, UAE and Jordan, circumventing a long-standing precedent for lawmakers to review major weapons sales. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-saudi-arms/defying-congress-trump-sets-8-billion-plus-in-weapons-sales-to-saudi-arabia-uae-idUSKCN1SU25R

Strains between Washington and Tehran have increased in recent weeks, a year after Trump, a Republican, abandoned a 2015 nuclear accord between Iran and world powers to curb Tehran’s nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief.

Trump’s administration announced that it was sending 1,500 additional troops to the Middle East, which it described as an effort to bolster defences against what it sees as a threat of potential attack by Iran.

Iran has warned against any military aggression. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-iran-japan-usa/japans-abe-warns-of-armed-conflict-amid-soaring-u-s-iran-tension-idUSKCN1TD0RJ

"Iran will never initiate a war but will give a crushing response to any aggression," Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said on Wednesday.

In a memorandum justifying the emergency declaration, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said, "Iranian malign activity poses a fundamental threat to the stability of the Middle East and to American security at home and abroad."

Democrats on the committee called the emergency declaration phony.

Defending the administration's position at Wednesday's hearing, assistant secretary of state for Political-military affairs Clarke Cooper said: "This is an emergency, this is a one time event."

However, Cooper later said a "one time event is conditions based," and that this was the fifth time in history that such an emergency was used to push through the sale of weapons.

Cooper said that some of the weapons have already been sent to the customer since the emergency declaration and before Wednesday's hearing. "Anything that's what's called 'off then shelf' then it's already moving" to customers, Cooper said.

But Cooper said "there was nothing new in these 22 sales," indicating that the packages had been previously notified to Congress, but did not progress through the established channels for weapons sales notifications.

U.S. Senators have drafted 22 "resolutions of disapproval." The resolutions https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-saudi-arms/republican-democratic-senators-seek-to-block-trump-saudi-arms-sales-idUSKCN1T61PL are intended to "protect and reaffirm Congress' role of approving arms sales to foreign governments."

Companies that would benefit include Raytheon Co precision-guided munitions (PGMs), support for Boeing Co F-15 aircraft, and Javelin anti-tank missiles, which are made by Raytheon and Lockheed Martin Corp.

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.

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Reuters reports, on the basis of an unnamed "senior administration" source, that the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump is pressuring the government of Saudi Arabia to show some progress in its investigation of the murder of Jamal Khashoggi before the one-year anniversary in October.