The U.S. and Britain will revoke the visas of Saudi Arabian officials thought to be involved in the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, according to leaders in both countries.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Tuesday that visa revocations could be one of several punishments handed to Saudi officials for their alleged hand in Khashoggi’s death at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on Oct. 2.
“These penalties will not be the last word on this matter,” Pompeo told reporters at a press briefing, adding that “neither the president or I am happy with this situation.”
Pompeo did not name the Saudi officials targeted by the visa sanctions, but the State Department later said they will apply to 21 “Saudi suspects.” The department is also weighing human rights sanctions against the suspects under the Magnitsky Act, Pompeo said.
Following Pompeo’s announcement, British Prime Minister Theresa May said the U.K. would also cancel the visas of the Saudi suspects.
“The Home Secretary is taking action against all suspects to prevent them entering the UK. If these individuals currently have visas, those visas will be revoked today,” May told a session of Parliament on Wednesday, according to Agence France-Presse.
Khashoggi’s death in the Saudi consulate has drawn an international diplomatic and economic backlash against Riyadh as details of the incident have surfaced in recent weeks. Turkish authorities say a team of Saudi agents killed and dismembered the journalist, a Saudi regime critic, in a pre-planned operation.
After weeks of denying involvement in Khashoggi’s disappearance, the Saudi government now claims he died in a fight at the consulate. (RELATED: Saudi Arabia Has ‘No Intention’ To Use Oil As Leverage In Khashoggi Controversy)
The Khashoggi affair has drawn intense scrutiny on the relationship between Western governments and the kindgom’s de facto ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. President Donald Trump and his son-in-law, White House adviser Jared Kushner, have forged close ties to bin Salman as part of the administration’s strategy to confront Iran in the Mideast region.
White House senior advisor Jared Kushner listens with other staff members and Secret Service as U.S. President Donald Trump talks to reporters about the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi during a bill signing ceremony in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, U.S., October 23, 2018. REUTERS/Leah Millis
Riyadh denies bin Salman had any advance knowledge of an operation to silence Khashoggi. Trump has not denounced the crown prince personally, but he has criticized Saudi dissembling about what happened to the journalist.
“It was carried out poorly, and the cover-up was one of the worst cover-ups in the history of cover-ups,” Trump said Tuesday. “Somebody really messed up, and they had the worst cover-up ever.”
Like her American counterpart, May expressed skepticism of Riyadh’s explanation that Khashoggi was accidentally killed in a fight gone bad.
“The claim that has been made that Mr Khashoggi died in a fight does not amount to a credible explanation, so there does remain an urgent need to establish exactly what has happened,” she said.
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