US wants 'thorough' Saudi probe of journalist disappearance

WASHINGTON - US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Monday called for a thorough and open probe by Washington's ally Saudi Arabia into the disappearance of Riyadh critic Jamal Khashoggi, after President Donald Trump voiced concern for the journalist.

Khashoggi, a Washington Post contributor and US resident, had written articles critical of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

On the eve of Khashoggi's planned marriage to a Turkish woman, he entered the consulate on October 2 and has not been seen since.

Turkish officials allege he was murdered inside the consulate. Riyadh denies that and claims he left the compound on his own.

"We call on the government of Saudi Arabia to support a thorough investigation of Mr Khashoggi's disappearance and to be transparent about the results of that investigation," Pompeo said in a statement.

State Department senior officials have spoken with Saudi Arabia through diplomatic channels about the matter, the top US diplomat added.

Pompeo's statement came after Trump earlier on Monday told reporters at the White House: "I am concerned. I don't like hearing about it. Hopefully that will sort itself out."

"Right now, nobody knows anything about it. There are some pretty bad stories going around. I do not like it," he added

Khashoggi, 59, had a long career as a senior journalist in Saudi Arabia and also as an advisor to top officials.

But since the emergence of Prince Mohammed, 33, as the center of power in the kingdom last year, Khashoggi has been openly critical of the monarchy.

He has assailed the prince's reforms as hollow, accusing him of introducing a new Saudi era of "fear, intimidation, arrests and public shaming."

A Saudi source at the consulate has denied that Khashoggi had been killed at the mission and said that the accusations were baseless. The consulate has also denied that Khashoggi was abducted.

Saudi Ambassador to the United States Prince Khalid bin Salman, the Saudi Crown Prince's brother, echoed these comments in a statement, adding that his country has sent a security team, with Turkey's approval, to assist in the investigation.

US President Donald Trump, in the first expression of concern by his administration on Khashoggi's disappearance, said he was troubled by reports about the journalist's fate.

"I am concerned about it. I don't like hearing about it. And hopefully that will sort itself out. Right now nobody knows anything about it, but there are some pretty bad stories going around. I do not like it," he told reporters at the White House.

Later in a tweet about the reports, Vice President Mike Pence said, "Violence against journalists across the globe is a threat to freedom of the press & human rights. The free world deserves answers."

Turkey has asked for permission to search Saudi Arabia's consulate in Istanbul, broadcaster NTV said on Monday.

A Turkish official said Saudi Arabia's envoy to Ankara had been summoned to the foreign ministry for a second time on Sunday. "It has been conveyed to him that we expect full coordination in the investigation process," the official said.

The two Turkish sources told Reuters that Turkish authorities believe Khashoggi was deliberately killed inside the consulate, a view echoed by one of Erdogan's advisers, Yasin Aktay, who is a friend of the Saudi journalist.

Saudi Arabia's consul in Istanbul opened his mission to Reuters on Saturday in an effort to show that Khashoggi was not on the premises.

Erdogan told reporters on Sunday that authorities were examining camera footage and airport records as part of their investigation, after Turkish authorities believed Khashoggi was deliberately killed inside the consulate, a view echoed by one of Erdogan's advisers, Yasin Aktay, who is a friend of the Saudi journalist.

Turkish mixed reactions to the case further raise speculation about the multiple scenarios of the journalist’s disappearance.