U.S. to Revoke Visas of Saudi Officials Allegedly Involved in Jamal Khashoggi Murder Case
Guwahati: In a startling revelation, Saudi Arabia has admitted that journalist Jamal Khashoggi, a contributor for The Washington Post, was killed in its Istanbul consulate.
Meanwhile, the United States has announced that it would revoke visas of Saudi officials allegedly involved in the killing Khashoggi, amid an international outrage over the scribe’s death.
As per sources, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said that the United States will continue to seek all relevant facts, consult the Congress, and work with other nations, to hold accountable those responsible for the killing of Khashoggi. Given the information, currently, available with the United States, the administration is taking appropriate actions, he further added.
He also reportedly added that the U.S. has identified at least some of the individuals responsible for Khashoggi’s death which includes those in the intelligence services, the Royal Court, the Saudi Foreign Ministry, and other Saudi ministries.
It may be mentioned here that Khashoggi, a former royal family insider turned critic of the Saudi crown prince, disappeared after he entered the consulate on October 2 to collect a document for his upcoming marriage.
This incident reportedly has severely dented the international reputation of the Crown Prince, Mohammed bin Salman.
"We are taking appropriate actions, which include revoking visas, entering visa lookouts, and other measures. We are also working with the Treasury Department to review the applicability of Global Magnitsky sanctions to those individuals, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo stated further.
It needs to be mentioned here that the Saudis, so far, have said that Khashoggi was killed in a fistfight during an interrogation that went wrong, while Turkey has alleged that he was brutally killed and it was pre-planned.
Meanwhile, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan termed the incident as “savage murder” and called the murder a meticulously planned one. He also demanded that all those linked to the killing be punished.
It may also be noted that the U.S., however, continues to maintain a strong partnership with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
Expressing concern over this issue, President Donald Trump said that Saudi authorities have staged the “worst ever cover-up” in the death of Khashoggi, but reiterated he does not want to scrap the USD 110 billion mega arms deal with Riyadh over the issue.
