Senior US official: Saudi version of Khashoggi murder 'not credible'

Comments come as the US secretary of state embarks on a tour of Arab capitals

Julian Borger in Washington
Fri 4 Jan 2019 19.25 GMT

The US does not believe the official Saudi version of the murder of the Washington Post columnist and dissident Jamal Khashoggi is credible, a senior administration official has said.

The official was speaking to the press before the secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, embarks next week on an tour of eight Arab capitals, seeking to shore up support for US policy, and to reassure allies that the US is not abandoning the region despite Donald Trump’s order for the withdrawal of American troops from Syria.

In Riyadh, Pompeo will talk to the Saudi leadership about the Khashoggi murder and the war in Yemen, urging support for the peace process begun in Stockholm last month.

The Saudi authorities have charged 12 men for the killing on 2 October in the kingdom’s Istanbul consulate. Five of the defendants face the death penalty if convicted.

“The Saudis should have a credible narrative of what happens in the consulate and afterwards,” the senior official said. “I don’t think from our point of view, the narrative emerging from the Saudis or the legal process there has yet hit that threshold of credibility and accountability.”

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