Washington/Riyadh: U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo called on King Salman on Tuesday and discussed the disappearance of Saudi writer Jamal Khashoggi. The journalist went missing two weeks ago during a visit to the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul. The pressure on Saudi Arabia has been mounted with Pompeo’s visit. King Salman greeted Pompeo at the Yamamah royal palace in Riyadh. They had a closed-door meeting.
US President Donald Trump also talked to King Salman on phone about Khashoggi’s disappearance.
Khashoggi, Washington Post columnist and leading critic of the powerful Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, who was living in self-exile in the US, vanished after entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul two weeks ago to get marriage documents. Turkish officials believe that he was murdered there and his body removed.