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Fri. 8:49 a.m.: Trump: ‘Severe’ consequences if Saudis murdered Khashoggi

A dozen of Indonesian journalists hold posters with photos of Saudi writer Jamal Khashoggi during a protest today outside Saudi Arabian Embassy in Jakarta, Indonesia. A Turkish official said today that investigators are looking into the possibility that the remains of missing Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi may have been taken to a forest in the outskirts of Istanbul or to another city, if and after he was killed inside the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul earlier this month. (AP Photo/Achmad Ibrahim)

ISTANBUL (AP) — A Turkish official said today that investigators are looking into the possibility that missing Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi’s remains may have been taken to a forest on the outskirts of Istanbul or to another city — if and after he was killed in Istanbul earlier this month. Ankara’s top diplomat, meanwhile, denied sharing any audio from the Saudi consulate with U.S. officials.

The official told The Associated Press that police have established that two vehicles belonging to the consulate left the building on Oct. 2 — the day Khashoggi had walked into the consulate and vanished.

One of the vehicles traveled to the nearby Belgrade Forest while the other traveled to the city of Yalova, across the Sea of Marmara from Istanbul, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity due to the secrecy of the ongoing investigation.

It was not immediately clear if police had already searched the areas.

Turkish reports say Khashoggi was brutally murdered and dismembered inside the consulate by members of an assassination squad with ties to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. The Saudis have dismissed those reports as baseless but have yet to explain what happened to Khashoggi, a columnist for The Washington Post who wrote critically of Prince Mohammed’s rise to power.

President Donald Trump, who first came out hard on the Saudis over the disappearance but had since backed off, said Thursday that it “certainly looks” as though Khashoggi is dead, and that the consequences for the Saudis “will have to be very severe” if they are found to have killed him.

The administration announced that Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin had pulled out of a major upcoming Saudi investment conference and a U.S. official said Secretary of State Mike Pompeo had warned the Saudi crown prince that his credibility as a future leader is at stake.

Pompeo said the Saudis should be given a few more days to finish and make public a credible investigation before the U.S. decides “how or if” to respond. Trump’s comments, however, signaled an urgency in completing the probe into the disappearance of the journalist, last seen entering the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul on Oct. 2.

Saudi Arabia has not responded to repeated requests for comment from The Associated Press over recent days over Khashoggi’s disappearance.

The pro-government Turkish newspaper Yeni Safak on Wednesday reported that an audio recording of Khashoggi’s slaying suggests a Saudi team accosted him after he entered the consulate, cutting off his fingers and later decapitating him.

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who visited Saudi Arabia and Turkey this week, told reporters on a plane to Mexico that he’s neither seen nor heard such a recording. Citing an anonymous senior Turkish official, ABC News reported on Thursday that Pompeo heard the alleged recording during meetings in Turkey and received a transcript of it.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu also denied sharing any audio recordings with U.S. officials.

Trump, who has insisted that more facts must be known before making assumptions, did not say on what he based his latest statement about the writer’s likely demise.

Asked if Khashoggi was dead, he said, “It certainly looks that way. … Very sad.”

Asked what consequence Saudi leaders would face if they are found to be responsible, he replied: “It will have to be very severe. It’s bad, bad stuff. But we’ll see what happens.”

Vice President Mike Pence said earlier in Colorado that “the world deserves answers” about what happened to Khashoggi, “and those who are responsible need to be held to account.”

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