Trump says remains unsatisfied with Saudi accounts on Khashoggi

WASHINGTON/ISTANBUL - US President Donald Trump said on Monday he was still not satisfied with what he has heard from Saudi Arabia about the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, but did not want to lose investment from Riyadh.

Khashoggi, a Washington Post columnist and critic of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman disappeared three weeks ago after he entered the Saudi consulate in Istanbul to obtain documents for his upcoming marriage.

Riyadh initially denied knowledge of his fate before saying he was killed in a fight in the consulate, a reaction greeted sceptically by several Western governments, straining relations with the world's biggest oil exporter.

"I am not satisfied with what I've heard," Trump told reporters at the White House. "I don't want to lose all that investment that's been made in our country.

"But we're going to get to the bottom of it." Trump made similar comments on Saturday about being unsatisfied with the Saudi response to the killing.

Trump on Monday said he spoke with the crown prince and that there are Americans in Saudi Arabia and US intelligence officers in Turkey working on the Khashoggi case who are returning Monday night or Tuesday.

Turkish officials suspect Khashoggi was killed inside the consulate by Saudi agents and his body cut up. Turkish sources say authorities have an audio recording purportedly documenting the murder of the 59-year-old.

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan has said he will release information about the investigation in a speech on Tuesday.

Reuters

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