Pompeo Says Saudis Assured Him of Accountability for Khashoggi Murder
Pompeo told reporters he had also raised a number of human rights issues with King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman, including women’s rights activists who have been detained for months and some allegedly tortured.
Khashoggi, a longtime royal insider who had become a critic of the crown prince, was killed in October in the kingdom’s Istanbul consulate, prompting a global outcry including US Treasury sanctions on 17 individuals and a US Senate resolution blaming Prince Mohammad.
A CIA assessment has blamed the crown prince for ordering the killing, which Saudi officials deny. At least 21 Saudis have been detained in the case, with five facing the death penalty. Five officials were also fired, including a senior royal advisor.
“They both acknowledged that accountability needed to take place. They talked about the process that is occurring inside their country, both the investigative process and the judicial process that is taking place,” Pompeo said, Reuters reported.
“They reiterated their commitment to achieve the objective, the expectations we set for them.”
The outcry over Khashoggi’s murder has strained ties with Western allies and focused attention on Saudi Arabia’s domestic crackdown on dissent and the nearly four-year-old war in Yemen.
During meetings that lasted about 80 minutes in total, Pompeo said he had spoken with Saudi leaders about women’s rights activists detained last summer and accused of treason.
“Their commitment was that the lawful judicial process would take place and they would do so quickly, and that they would continue down that path,” he told reporters.
On Yemen, Pompeo and Prince Mohammad agreed on the need for continued de-escalation and adherence to agreements made last month at talks in Sweden to end the war.
