'US will hold Khashoggi killers accountable', Pompeo tells Saudi Prince

Amid accusations on Saudi prince of orchestrating the brutal murder of his critic Jamal Khahsoggi, the decades-old Riyadh-Washington ties have strained.

In this photo released by Saudi Press Agency, SPA, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman speaks at the opening ceremony of Future Investment Initiative Conference in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Courtesy: AP

New Delhi: US on Monday told the Saudi regime that it will hold accountable all those involved in the killing of the Jamal Khashoggi the dissident journalist who was a vocal critic of the Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. In a wide-ranging telephone call that also took in the conflict in Yemenm, US  Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told the Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed that the US will hold accountable all involved in the killing of Khahoggi. The telephone call also took in the conflict in Yemen. Amid accusations on Saudi prince of orchestrating the brutal murder, the decades-old Riyadh-Washington ties have strained. Khashoggi was a US resident and was murdered brutally in Saudi Arabia’s consulate in Istanbul on October 2. State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said in a statement. "The Secretary emphasized that the United States will hold all of those involved in the killing of Jamal Khashoggi accountable, and that Saudi Arabia must do the same.” The top US diplomat has previously said Khashoggi's killing "violates the norms of international law," and that the US was reviewing possible sanctions on individuals identified as having been involved. Pompeo "reiterated the United States' calls for a cessation of hostilities and for all parties to come to the table to negotiate a peaceful solution to the conflict," the statement said. Khashoggi, who was a columnist for the Washington Post, was critical of Prince Mohammed and the country's intervention in Yemen, a conflict which was also discussed during the phone call, Nauert said. But Pompeo and Trump have also both emphasized America's important commercial, strategic and national security relationships with the petro-state. Pompeo has previously called for an end to hostilities in the rebel-infested Arab state, emphasizing the need for the Saudi-led coalition to halt strikes in populated areas. Nearly, 10, 000 people have been killed in and after the Saudi Arabia’s Yemen war overseen by Prince Mohammed. The Yemen was a highly controversial intervention to bolster President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi's government in the face of an insurgency by Huthi rebels.