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Trump under pressure over Khashoggi murder: Pundit

Friday, 23 November 2018 7:32 AM [ Last Update: Friday, 23 November 2018 10:00 AM ]

In this file photo taken in May 2017, US President Donald Trump (R) and Saudi Deputy Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman al-Saud take part in a bilateral meeting in Riyadh. (Photo by AFP)

The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and the Congress are putting pressure on President Donald Trump to adopt a realistic stance on Saudi leadership’s involvement in the killing of dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi in Istanbul on October 2, says a commentator.

Turkish newspaper Hurriyet reported Thursday that CIA Director Gina Haspel signaled the existence of a tape that proves Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman gave instructions to “silence” Khashoggi at the Saudi consulate in Turkey.

In an interview with Press TV on Friday, Michael Springmann, a former US diplomat in Saudi Arabia, said that “there is more pressure on Trump now than there was before.”

“The significant thing is that the CIA director ... is openly opposing the president of the United States, leaking information that contradicts everything that President Trump has said about the Khashoggi murder and involvement of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.”

“It should be interesting to see what is going to happen with pressure in the Congress mounting,” Springmann noted.

According to the former diplomat, the US Senate Committee on Foreign Relations has demanded President Trump to produce evidence on “what he is going to do with the Saudis for their crimes against humanity.”

Asked about Mohammed bin Salman’s possible involvement in the killing of Khashoggi, Trump said the Saudi crown prince “regretted the death more than I do.”