Trump sends Pompeo to Riyadh over Khashoggi

Trump dispatched Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to meet King Salman over the case that has strained the Americans’ relationship with the Saudis, carefully cultivated by the U.S. president.

Khashoggi, a U.S. resident, Washington Post columnist and leading critic of the powerful Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, vanished after entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul two weeks ago to get marriage documents. Turkish officials say they believe he was murdered there and his body removed.

Members of his family called for an investigation, in a statement released on Monday.

 “We are sadly and anxiously following the conflicting news regarding the fate of our father after losing contact with him two weeks ago,” they said.

“The strong moral and legal responsibility which our father instilled in us obliges us to call for the establishment of an independent and impartial international commission to inquire into the circumstances of his death.”

Citing two unidentified sources, CNN said on Monday that Saudi Arabia is preparing a report that would acknowledge Khashoggi was killed as the result of an interrogation that went wrong. The Saudi government could not be reached immediately for comment on the CNN report.

“I heard that report, but nobody knows if it’s an official report,” Trump told reporters, without elaborating.

The New York Times, citing a person familiar with the Saudi plans, reported the crown prince had approved an interrogation or rendition of Khashoggi back to Saudi Arabia. The Saudi government, it said, would shield the prince by blaming an intelligence official for the bungled operation.

The case has provoked an international outcry against Saudi Arabia, the world’s top oil exporter, with more media and business executives pulling out of a planned investment conference there this month.

While organizers said Monday the conference will go on, the Saudis canceled an annual diplomatic reception in Washington set for later this week.

Many members of the U.S. Congress, which has long had a testy relationship with Saudi Arabia, have issued strong criticism of the kingdom over the case.

Turkish authorities have an audio recording indicating that Khashoggi was killed in the consulate, a Turkish official and a security source told Reuters, and have shared evidence with countries including Saudi Arabia and the United States. They provided no further details.

Saudi Arabia has strongly denied killing Khashoggi and has denounced such assertions as “lies,” saying he left the building shortly after entering.

 “The king firmly denied any knowledge of it,” Trump told reporters after speaking with King Salman. “He didn’t really know, maybe - I don’t want to get into his mind but it sounded to me - maybe these could have been rogue killers. Who knows?”

The U.S. president gave no evidence to support the theory. Democratic lawmakers criticized Trump for using the term “rogue killers”.

“Been hearing the ridiculous ‘rogue killers’ theory was where the Saudis would go with this,” Democratic U.S. Senator Chris Murphy said on Twitter.

“Absolutely extraordinary they were able to enlist the President of the United States as their PR agent to float it.”

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