Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman meets with Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May during the G20 summit, in Buenos Aires, Argentina, December 1, 2018
British Prime Minister Theresa May has urged Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler to hold the killers of Jamal Khashoggi to account and to ensure that Riyadh cooperates fully with Turkey, her office said Friday.
May held talks with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on the sidelines of the G20 summit in the Argentine capital of Buenos Aires.
"The prime minister stressed the importance of ensuring that those responsible for the appalling murder of Jamal Khashoggi are held to account and that Saudi Arabia takes action to build confidence that such a deplorable incident could not happen again,” her office said.
May also encouraged bin Salman to ensure that Saudi Arabia will cooperate fully with Turkish authorities and work to “bring both investigations to an acceptable close”.
Khashoggi, a Saudi journalist working for The Washington Post, was killed shortly after he entered the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul on Oct. 2.
After saying he had left the consulate alive, Saudi Arabia admitted weeks later that he was killed there, blaming his death on a group of rogue Saudi operatives.
May also asked Saudi Arabia to end the conflict in Yemen and “bring relief to millions threatened by famine” during her meeting with the crown prince.
Impoverished Yemen has been wracked by conflict since 2014, when Houthi rebels overran much of the country, including the capital, Sanaa.
The conflict escalated in 2015 when Saudi Arabia and its Sunni Arab allies launched a military campaign aimed at rolling back Houthi gains in Yemen and shoring up the country’s Saudi-backed government.
The war has resulted in a collapsed economy and a cholera outbreak that has affected over 1.1 million people.
Riyadh has repeatedly accused the Houthis of acting as a proxy force for Iran, Saudi Arabia’s arch-foe in the region.
British Prime Minister Theresa May said she would be robust when she talks to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman at the G20 summit in Argentina later on Friday about the killing of Jamal Khashoggi and the situation in Yemen."I am going to speak to the crown prince of Saudi Arabia but it is the relationship we have with Saudi Arabia that enables me to sit down with him and be robust on our views on two issues," May told Sky News in an interview on Friday.She said she would tell him that the investigation into Khashoggi's killing must be full and credible and that those responsible must be held to account.Regarding Yemen, she said she would encourage him to find a political solution."We believe that now is the time, there is an opportunity to find a solution, to come to a political solution because that is the way to ensure the future and a safe and secure future for the people of the Yemen," she said. UK PM May to hold bilateral meeting with Saudi crown princeUS Senate defied Trump on Saudi ties, but may falter in next steps
UK PM May to be robust with Saudi Crown Prince on Khashoggi killing
Republican Senator Lindsey Graham said on Wednesday he would withhold his vote on any key issue, including upcoming spending bills, until the CIA briefs senators about the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi."I am not going to be denied the ability to be briefed by the CIA, that we have oversight of, about whether or not their assessment supports my belief that this could not have happened without MBS (Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman) knowing," Graham told reporters.If the briefing supports his view the crown prince knew about it, "there will be no more business as usual with Saudi Arabia.""I'm talking about any key vote, anything that you need me for to get out of town, I ain't doing it until we hear from the CIA," Graham said, adding "I just did" when asked if he had told President Donald Trump. Senate advances bid to end support for war in YemenUN chief says ready to meet Saudi crown prince at G20
Republican senator to withhold vote until CIA briefs on Khashoggi
Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has suggested that U.S. President Donald Trump is “part of the cover-up as to what happened” in the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi.Clinton, who was also Trump's campaign rival in the 2016 presidential election, kicked off a paid speaking tour with her husband and former President Bill Clinton in Toronto and took the opportunity to attack the president's response to the killing.“We have a president who is part of the cover-up as to what happened in that consulate or embassy when Mr. Khashoggi was murdered,” Clinton said Tuesday.“And we have a president and those closest to him who have their own personal commercial interests,” she added.Khashoggi, a Saudi journalist and columnist for The Washington Post, went missing after entering the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul on Oct. 2.After initially saying he had left the consulate alive, Saudi Arabia admitted weeks later that he was killed there.Trump, who has stated that he plans to maintain relations with Saudi Arabia, has come under criticism from many in Washington who think the U.S. should downgrade its ties with the Kingdom and end U.S. support for the Saudi-led war in Yemen.The president also refused to blame Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman for the crime after reports emerged that the CIA concluded that the prince ordered the killing, saying "maybe he did, maybe he didn't!"
‘Trump part of Khashoggi cover-up’