President Donald Trump has spoken to King Salman of Saudi Arabia, who denies any knowledge of what happened to a Saudi journalist who visited the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul and then disappeared and is feared dead.
Mr Trump tweeted: “Just spoke to the King of Saudi Arabia who denies any knowledge of whatever may have happened ‘to our Saudi Arabian citizen’.”
Just spoke to the King of Saudi Arabia who denies any knowledge of whatever may have happened “to our Saudi Arabian citizen.” He said that they are working closely with Turkey to find answer. I am immediately sending our Secretary of State to meet with King!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 15, 2018
Mr Trump said he was dispatching US secretary of state Mike Pompeo to meet with the King to try to find out what happened to missing journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
Mr Pompeo is expected to go to Riyadh and later visit Turkey.
The US and Saudis are close allies.
Earlier, reports in Turkey suggested the consulate at the centre of the mystery would be jointly examined by officials from Saudi Arabia and Turkey.
