The Saudi foreign minister said any action to penalize the royal ruling family for the death of journalist Jamal Khashoggi is a “red line” that cannot be crossed – comments that come as President Trump gave the crown prince a pass for the murder.
“In Saudi Arabia our leadership is a red line,” Adel al-Jubeir told the BBC late Wednesday, referring to King Salman and his son Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
“They represent every Saudi citizen and every Saudi citizen represents them. And we will not tolerate any discussion of anything that is disparaging towards our monarch or our crown prince,” he said, reiterating that the royals were not involved in Khashoggi’s death.
“We have made that very clear. We have investigations ongoing and we will punish the individuals who are responsible for this,” al-Jubeir said.
Trump ignored the CIA’s conclusion that Prince Mohammed directed the killing of Khashoggi, whose writings for the Washington Post were highly critical of the royal family, and said his administration would not penalize him.
“Our intelligence agencies continue to assess all information, but it could very well be that the Crown Prince had knowledge of this tragic event – maybe he did and maybe he didn’t!,” he said in a statement released by the White House Tuesday.
The statement, subtitled “America First!,” went on to heap praise on Saudi Arabia for investing billions in the US and for buying weapons that create jobs for Americans and “additional wealth for the United States.”
Trump, who is spending the Thanksgiving weekend at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, tweeted comments made by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo about the dangers of the Middle East.
“‘It’s a mean & nasty world out there, the Middle East in particular. This is a long and historic commitment, & one that is absolutely vital to America’s national security.” @SecPompeo I agree 100%. In addition, many Billions of Dollars of purchases made in U.S., big Jobs & Oil!,” Trump wrote on Thursday.
Khashoggi was murdered and dismembered after he entered the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul on Oct. 2.
The whereabouts of his remains are still unknown.