After speaking to the Saudi king by phone, the U.S. president said Salman
"denies any knowledge of whatever may have happened” to the journalist and was
"working closely with Turkey” to find out what happened to him.
"The denial was very, very strong,” Trump told reporters. "It sounded to me like
maybe these could have been rogue killers. Who knows?”
"All I can do is report what he told me. He told me in a very firm way that they
had no knowledge of it. He said it very strongly,” Trump said.
The U.S. president’s claim that rogue elements may be responsible for
Khashoggi’s disappearance implies he accepts that the journalist has been
murdered – but is seeking a way out of the crisis that somehow absolves the
Saudi royal court.
King Salman also discussed the disappearance of the journalist with Turkish
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Sunday evening.
Khashoggi has been missing since he stepped inside the Saudi consulate in
Istanbul on October 2, with Turkish officials saying they believe he has been
killed.
Erdogan has behaved cautiously in the controversy, expressing concern but
stopping short of directly accusing Riyadh.
King Salman phoned Erdogan "to thank the president for welcoming the kingdom's
proposal to form a joint working group" to discuss the disappearance, the Saudi
foreign ministry said.
Few details have emerged over how the joint working group will function,
sparking suspicion that Saudi Arabia might be trying to coax Turkey with certain
concessions at a time of the latter's economic problems.
Turkey’s Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said Saudi Arabia had not cooperated
in the investigation, despite proposing to create the joint working group with
Turkish authorities.
Turkish officials have reportedly shared with Washington contents of video and
audio recordings that allegedly contain evidence supporting claims that
Khashoggi was murdered by the Saudi government.
President Trump initially made it clear that whatever the outcome of the inquiry
into the disappearance of Khashoggi, the U.S. would not forgo billions of
dollars in arms deals with Saudi Arabia.
However, he told CBS News on Saturday that the U.S. was investigating the case
which he called "really terrible and disgusting” and that "there will be severe
punishment”.
His remarks prompted Saudi Arabia to threaten to use its economic muscle to
respond to any punitive measure but Rai al-Youm, a pan-Arab newspaper based in
London, said the kingdom might have to ready itself for new "milking" by the
U.S.
Saudi Arabia appears to be increasingly cornered. Britain, France and Germany,
which have also tended to prioritize economic ties with Riyadh, issued a joint
statement saying they "expect the Saudi government to provide a complete and
detailed response”.
The kingdom seems to be taking on each challenge one by one, beginning with
Turkey where the macabre incident took place.
The Saudi foreign ministry said King Salman affirmed his country's "solid"
relations with Turkey in the phone call with Erdogan, stressing that no one
could undermine their relationship.
For his part, Erdogan reportedly expressed his keenness to enhance ties between
the two countries.
Turkey's investigation into the disappearance of Khashoggi has reportedly
revealed recordings made on his Apple Watch, which synced with his iPhone being
carried outside the consulate by Khashoggi's fiancée.
The recordings purportedly indicated that the prominent Saudi journalist was
tortured and killed at the kingdom's consulate in Istanbul, according to the
Turkish Sabah daily.
The paper cited "reliable sources in a special intelligence department" as
saying that Khashoggi is believed to have turned on the recording feature on the
phone before entering the consulate.
The Washington Post, to which Khashoggi contributed as a columnist, has said the
Turkish government had told U.S. officials it had audio and video recordings
showing how Khashoggi was "interrogated, tortured and then murdered" by a
15-member Saudi security team inside the consulate before his body was
dismembered.
Source: Kayhan