President Donald Trump has said he is “not satisfied” with Saudi Arabia’s account of the death of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, but asserted that he would not like to scrap an $110 billion arms deal with Riyadh despite a global outrage over the dissident scribe’s brutal killing.
Saudi Arabia in a statement on Saturday said Khashoggi (60) died following a “fistfight” at its consulate in Istanbul on October 2, without disclosing any details on the whereabouts of his body.
Turkish officials believe Khashoggi — a critic of the Saudi Government — was murdered and his body dismembered. “I’m not satisfied until we find the answer,” Trump said, adding sanctions were a possibility, but that halting an arms deal would “hurt us more than it would hurt them”.
“It is something that we don’t like. It’s very serious stuff. And we’re going to get to the bottom of it and will make that determination,” Trump told reporters in Nevada.
Trump said it was “possible” that the powerful Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman did not know about the killing. His comment came when asked about his previous statement that he would be considering severe consequences for Saudi Arabia following the journalist’s death.
