US. President Donald Trump on Tuesday called Saudi efforts to hide Jamal Khashoggi's murder "worst cover-up ever", and said he will leave the consequences for Saudi Arabia up to Congress in consultation with him.
"They had a very bad original concept. It was carried out poorly, and the cover up was one of the worst in the history of coverups," Trump told reporters at the White House.
"Whoever thought of that idea is in big trouble, should be in big trouble," Trump said. He noted that Saudi Arabia is in a "nasty part of the world" but that was not an excuse.
When asked about President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's remarks about the killing of Saudi journalist Khashoggi, Trump said his comments were "pretty rough" but he criticized Riyadh's handling of the matter.
Trump said he wanted to get all the facts on Khashoggi's death at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul before agreeing with Erdoğan's assessment. Trump, who sent his CIA director to Turkey to discuss the issue, said he expected to have a report pretty soon
Khashoggi was last seen entering the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul on Oct. 2. He was never seen exiting the diplomatic facility.
Saudi Arabia has claimed Khashoggi, a writer for The Washington Post who wrote critically about Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, died accidentally in a brawl at the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul that day.
But Turkish officials say a 15-men team tortured, killed and dismembered the writer and say Saudi officials had planned the killing for days.
Source: dailysabah
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