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Pompeo Meets Saudi King on Khashoggi Case, Turks Study ‘Toxic Materials’

Pompeo Meets Saudi King on  Khashoggi Case, Turks Study ‘Toxic Materials’

RIYADH/ISTANBUL - U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo met Saudi Arabia’s king and crown prince to discuss the disappearance of journalist Jamal Khashoggi on Tuesday and Turkey’s foreign minister said the envoy would bring information about the case to Ankara.
Khashoggi, a U.S. resident and leading critic of the Saudi crown prince, vanished after entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on Oct. 2. Turkish officials say they believe the Saudi journalist was murdered there and his body removed, which the Saudis strongly deny.
President Donald Trump, who dispatched Pompeo to Riyadh amid strained ties with the key ally, has speculated that “rogue killers” may be responsible after speaking with King Salman.
After talks with the king, Pompeo met Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir and will see Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman for a second time at a dinner. He is then expected to go to Turkey.
Overnight, Turkish crime scene investigators entered the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, the last place Khashoggi was seen before vanishing, for the first time and searched the premises for over nine hours, Reuters witnesses said.
They will continue on Tuesday, expanding their search to include the residence of the Saudi consul as well as consulate vehicles, Turkey’s Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said.
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan, speaking to reporters in parliament, raised the possibility that parts of the consulate had been repainted since Khashoggi disappeared. “The investigation is looking into many things such as toxic materials and those materials being removed by painting them over,” he said.
The case has provoked an international outcry against the world’s top oil exporter, with media and business executives pulling out of an investment conference next week. (Reuters)