100M is likely just the start, otoh,
Otoh, threats were probably communicated politely, as worries
In any case, did not take long for team USA to ask for what must have in order to come up w/ a plausible story fitting the facts, or to discredit the facts, per what any lawyer of merit would do.
As the boyz on both sides are not playing by any rules, cannot think why the Turks woukd be in any hurry to supply the facts.
Am wondering which other players know the facts because they bugged the Saudi embassy, and what such ostensibly bystanding players are doing.
Am guessing truth and justice are furthest from minds if all players.
ft.com
Trump says US has asked for Khashoggi tapesBut US president says he does not want to walk away from Saudi Arabia
2 hours ago
US secretary of state Mike Pompeo, left, with Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara on WednesdayDonald Trump said the US had asked for a recording of Jamal Khashoggi’s purported killing “if it exists”, but stressed that Washington did not want to walk away from Saudi Arabia as it comes under mounting pressure over the case.
Asked if the US had requested video or audio evidence of Mr Khashoggi’s death, Mr Trump said on Wednesday: “We have asked for it, if it exists. We have asked.”
He was speaking as Mike Pompeo, US secretary of state, returned from a trip to Turkey and Saudi Arabia that highlighted the US’s desire to balance concern over Mr Khashoggi with a desire to preserve economic and security ties to Saudi Arabia.
In a separate interview with Fox Business Network, the US president said: “We need Saudi Arabia in terms of our fight against all of the terrorism, everything that’s happening in Iran.”
Asked if the US would walk away from the kingdom, he said: “No I don’t want to do that, I don’t want to do that.”
The president said he was waiting for a briefing from Mr Pompeo, who met Saudi Arabia’s King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the country’s de facto ruler, as well as Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Referring to Mr Khashoggi’s disappearance, Mr Trump said: “I hope that the King and the Crown Prince didn’t know about it, that’s a big factor in my eyes.” But he denied he was giving cover to Saudi Arabia, telling reporters later in the Oval Office: “I want to find out what happened.”
Mr Pompeo had reiterated the US’s willingness to aid a probe into the disappearance of Mr Khashoggi as lurid new claims emerged about the Saudi journalist’s fate.
US officials said they expected Saudi Arabia to soon announce publicly that Mr Khashoggi was killed.
Riyadh under pressure over Jamal Khashoggi's disappearance
“Sooner is better than later, yes, for everyone,” Mr Pompeo said. He said there “had been a couple of delays” in preparing the report, but that the Turks said the Saudis had co-operated with their investigation and “seemed pretty confident that the Saudis would allow them to do the things they need to do”.
Mr Khashoggi has not been seen since entering the Saudi Arabian consulate in Istanbul on October 2.
Turkish officials have used a series of leaks to Turkish and international media to allege that Mr Khashoggi, 59, was killed at the consulate by a 15-man hit squad after arranging an appointment to collect papers for his forthcoming marriage.
The pro-government newspaper, Sabah, published the names and photographs of a team of people which allegedly flew into Istanbul on two private jets on the day of the journalist’s disappearance, before leaving the same day. The names were confirmed as accurate by a Turkish official.
The Wall Street Journal on Wednesday cited Turkish officials as saying that they had shared evidence, including details of an audio recording that backed up their claims that Mr Khashoggi was killed and his body dismembered by a Saudi hit squad.
The newspaper said the recording indicated that Mr Khashoggi was killed in the office of the consul-general within minutes of entering the diplomatic mission on October 2. It said he was not interrogated — a claim that would directly contradict claims of a questioning that went wrong.
The report cited people familiar with the recording as saying that a voice could be heard inviting the consul to leave the room before a man identified as a Saudi forensic specialist, Salah Al Tabiqi, could be heard recommending those present to listen to music while he dismembered Mr Khashoggi’s body.
Before boarding his plane to Ankara from Saudi Arabia, Mr Pompeo said that he had stressed the “importance of [the Saudis] conducting a complete investigation into the disappearance”.
He declined to discuss what the Saudis had told him about Mr Khashoggi’s fate. “I don’t want to talk about any of the facts. They didn’t want to either and that they want to have the opportunity to complete this investigation in a thorough way,” Mr Pompeo said.
Turkey’s interior minister, Suleyman Soylu, said on Wednesday that investigators were still awaiting final permission to search the Istanbul home of the consul-general. Earlier this week, a search was performed at the consulate building.
Mr Erdogan said that investigators had searched for “toxic” materials and suggested that some evidence had been covered up by painting over it.
Saudi Arabia initially insisted that Mr Khashoggi had left the consulate building safely. But this week it emerged that the Gulf kingdom was considering changing its stance to say that the journalist died in a botched interrogation by rogue operatives.
Mr Trump has appeared receptive to such claims, voicing the idea that “rogue” killers could be responsible.
On Tuesday, he used an interview with Associated Press to warn of the dangers of rushing to judgment.
He compared the case to the treatment received by Brett Kavanaugh, the Supreme Court justice accused of sexual assault. “We have to find out what happened first,” Mr Trump said. “Here we go again with?.?.?.?you’re guilty until proven innocent. I don’t like that. We just went through that with Justice Kavanaugh and he was innocent all the way as far as I’m concerned.”
Such comments have stoked concern among friends and supporters of Mr Khashoggi that Mr Trump might be willing to let Saudi Arabia off the hook.
The Gulf kingdom is widely seen as the US’s most important Arab ally in the Middle East. Mr Trump and his son-in-law Jared Kushner have fostered close ties with the country’s rulers.
In response to Mr Khashoggi’s disappearance, more than a dozen high-profile international executives have withdrawn from a large investment forum in Riyadh next week organised by the kingdom’s sovereign wealth fund.
On Wednesday, G7 foreign ministers issued a joint statement urging Saudi Arabia to conduct a “a thorough, credible, transparent, and prompt investigation”.
The group of ministers from Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the UK and the US as well as a representative from the EU said that they were “very troubled by the disappearance of Mr Khashoggi”. The statement added: “Those bearing responsibility for his disappearance must be held to account.”
Christine Lagarde, managing director of the IMF, has also deferred a visit to the Middle East that was to include the conference in Riyadh.
Additional reporting by Demetri Sevastopulo in Washington |
