Pompeo in Turkey on missing Saudi journalist issue

Mr. Pompeo has made no public comment on his talks with President Erdogan or Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu before leaving Turkey.

The State Department issued a statement saying that Mr. Pompeo “compounded the United States' concern over the disappearance of Jamal Khashogg and reiterated the American readiness to assist Turkey in its” investigation.
Khashoggi, a critic of the Saudi monarchy who wrote about the Washington Post newspaper, was last seen on 2 October entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.
Turkish officials have said Saudi agents have killed Khashogg. Saudi officials say he came out of the consulate himself.

The Wall Street Journal reported late Tuesday that Saudi operatives beat and drugged Khashogg and then killed him and broke his body. The paper said Turkish officials have given Saudi and American officials evidence, including details of a Swiss census.

Mr. Pompeii told reporters Wednesday before going to Turkey that at his meetings with Saudi King Salman, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Foreign Minister Addel al-Jubeir, he stressed the need for a thorough investigation and received guarantees that such an investigation would take place.

“They also committed themselves to hold every man in charge of any criminal offense, regardless of whether they are officers or senior officials”, Mr. Pompeii said.
Asked whether this was also applied to members of the royal family, Mr. Pompeo said Saudi leaders “did not make exceptions to whom they would hold” responsible.

Turkish officials have identified 15 suspected people who say they went to Istanbul and entered the consulate the day Khahogg disappeared. The New York Times and the Washington Post announced late Tuesday that some people from this list are linked to Saudi security services and to the crown prince.

The Associated Press also quoted a senior Turkish official as saying that during an investigation into the Saudi consulate, Turkish investigators found evidence of Khashogg's murder, but did not provide further details. Reuters said investigators found “strong evidence”, but no final evidence of Khashogg's death.

Mr. Pompeo said he's waiting for Saudi leaders to bring their promises to life for a thorough investigation.

They gave me my word and we'll all see if they don't keep the promise,” he said.

US President Donald Trump criticised Saudi Arabia's growing sentence in an interview with the Associated Press news agency.

“You are making the same mistake again, calling the other guilty until proven innocent,” said President Trump.
While Mr. Pompeii was in Saudi Arabia, Mr. Trump, Washington, wrote in

Twitter, “For knowledge, I have no financial interests in Saudi Arabia (or Russia, by the way). Any allusion to the contrary is simply LAME I FALSE (from which there are many)! ”

But during a campaign speech in 2015, Mr. Trump boasted about his business relations with Saudis: “Saudi Arabia, I get along with them all. They buy apartments from me, they spend 40 million, 50 million dollars. Should he not like me? I love it.