Trump Must Stop Accommodating Saudi Efforts To Conceal Khashoggi Plot - US Senator

WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 01st November, 2018) US President Donald Trump must stop enabling Saudi efforts to obfuscate details on its possible role in the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, US Senator Patrick Leahy said in a press release.

Trump earlier in the day told reporters that the Saudi Arabian government has not "betrayed" him about details surrounding the Kingdom's role in Khashoggi's murder. Trump's comment came after a Turkish prosecutor's office said that Khashoggi's body was dismembered after being strangled in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, contradicting Riyadh's account of events.

"The Saudis' atrocities in Yemen have been enabled by the Trump administration. The Saudis' atrocity against Jamal Khashoggi is another," Leahy said on Wednesday. "The White House has largely sat on its hands instead of insisting on a full accounting of his murder. That tacit accommodation, too, must end."

Leahy welcomed US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's call earlier on Wednesday for an end to the fighting in Yemen but said it had come far too late. Leahy said he hoped this meant the Trump administration would no longer support the Saudi military.

Following more than two weeks of denials, Saudi Arabia admitted on October 19 that Khashoggi had been killed in a brawl inside the consulate in Istanbul. According to Riyadh, 18 people have been arrested over their suspected involvement in the incident and the country's deputy intelligence chief has been fired.