Saudi's handling of Khashoggi case 'worst cover-up ever' - Trump

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

Breaking: Saudi Arabia admits death of Khashoggi

The initial Saudi investigation into the disappearance of journalist Jamal Khashoggi has found that he is dead, Saudi-based Al-Ekhrabiya reported.

According to the report, the Saudi investigators are probing at least 18 suspects; they are all Saudi nationals.

Furthermore, King Salman has dismissed the Deputy Intelligence Chief General Ahmed Al-Assir, along with Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman’s closest aide Saud Al-Qahtani.

Khashoggi was reportedly killed after a fight broke out inside the Saudi Consulate; his body is still missing.

The Saudi government is still investigating the case in coordination with the Turkish state, the report added.

Trump vows to punish Saudi Arabia for Khashoggi murder

S. President Donald Trump has said Saudi Arabia could be behind the disappearance of missing journalist Jamal Khashoggi and warned Washington would inflict "severe punishment" if he was murdered.

The Saudi critic has not been seen since he walked into the kingdom's consulate in Istanbul on October 2, with Turkish officials accusing Riyadh of murdering him inside the diplomatic mission.

"We're going to get to the bottom of it and there will be severe punishment," Trump told CBS's "60 Minutes" program, according to an extract of an interview that was released on Saturday.

"As of this moment, they deny it and they deny it vehemently. Could it be them? Yes," Trump said in the interview, which was conducted on Thursday, when asked if Khashoggi was murdered by Saudi Arabia.

But when asked what options Trump would consider, the president said he was not keen to limit arms sales to the kingdom -- a position he has previously voiced.

"Well, it depends on what the sanction is," he said.

"I'll give you an example -- they are ordering military equipment. Everybody in the world wanted that order. Russia wanted it, China wanted it, we wanted it. We got it, and we got all of it, every bit of it.

He added: "I'll tell you what I don't want to do. Boeing, Lockheed, Raytheon, I don't want to hurt jobs. I don't want to lose an order like that. And you know what, there are other ways of punishing, to use a word that's a pretty harsh word, but it's true."