Forty congressmen signed an appeal to the head of the White House with a call to impose sanctions against Saudi Arabia. Lawmakers are proposing to expel the ambassador of the kingdom from the US, as well as to freeze arms contracts signed earlier in response to the disappearance of journalist Jamal Hashukji. It is assumed that the blame for this can be borne by the authorities of the country. Riyadh is also accused of crimes against civilians in Yemen.

“Our letter supports tough sanctions under the Magnitsky Act against those responsible for the assassination of Mr. Hashukji, and calls for putting an end to the atrocities of Saudi Arabia in Yemen,” RL Novosti quoted the words of one of the applicants, Congressman Lloyd Dodgett.

In addition, on Thursday it became known that US Treasury Secretary Stephen Mnuchin refused to participate in a major investment conference in the KSA Future Investment Initiative (FII).

"Just met with US President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, and we decided that I would not participate in the summit," - wrote Mnuchin on Twitter.

A similar decision was made earlier by the British Minister of International Trade Liam Fox and the head of the French Ministry of Finance Bruno Le Mer. In addition, many big business representatives have already refused to visit Riyadh: Viacom head Bob Bekish, Uber head Dara Khosrovshahi, HP executive representative Joanna Popper, Google senior vice president Diana Green, head of JPMorgan and Ford Jamie Dimon and Bill Ford and a lot others. Christine Lagarde, the head of the International Monetary Fund, will not go to the kingdom. In all cases, the reason for the refusal is the situation with the disappearance of the journalist Hashukji. Also, the British tycoon, the founder of the Virgin Group, Richard Branson, stopped negotiations on investments in the KSA economy in the amount of $ 1 billion.

Own among strangers

Recall, Jamal Khashukji disappeared without a trace after entering the Istanbul consulate of Saudi Arabia on October 2. He went there for the documents necessary to dissolve the marriage. According to the Turkish authorities, at the consulate he was captured and brutally murdered. Details allegedly became known thanks to Hashukji Apple Watch, which automatically downloaded the recording of what is happening in the cloud storage.

Ankara was the first to be heard about the loss and possible death of the journalist: the Turkish authorities demanded a search at the consulate and called Riyadh responsible for the disappearance of the press representative. According to Ankara, the motive for the murder could be the criticism with which the journalist attacked the Saudi regime in his articles published in The Washington Post.

  • Turkish police
  • Reuters

Saudi Arabia has given permission to conduct investigations at the consulate. According to the Turkish media, the law enforcement authorities managed to find evidence indicating that the journalist was killed in this very building.

This story has caused a great resonance in the United States. According to experts, the main reason for such an acute reaction is that Jamal Hashukji in the United States has long been perceived as an American.

“The most important thing is that Hashukji in the American public consciousness is“ his own ”, not to mention the media in which he worked, said Ivan Tsvetkov, associate professor of American studies at the Faculty of International Relations of St. Petersburg State University, in an interview. “And the protection of“ our own ”has always been a priority for American politicians, so Washington cannot ignore this situation.”

But first, Donald Trump called the accusations against the authorities of Saudi Arabia “premature”. The politician made such a statement after a telephone conversation with the leadership of Saudi Arabia. Representatives of the ruling dynasty at KSA promised that the kingdom would “expand the scope” of the investigation into the disappearance of the journalist.

On October 15, the head of the White House sent Head of State Department Mike Pompeo to Riyadh to clarify the circumstances of Hashukji’s disappearance.

Earlier, Trump said that the situation around the disappearance of Hashukji can not be a reason for the termination or freezing of defense contracts with Riyadh. In a conversation with journalists, the American president said that he also sees no reason to restrict Saudi investments in the United States, because otherwise Russia or China can get these funds. Trump recalled that we are talking about $ 110 billion

  • Jamal Hashukji
  • Reuters

However, in Congress, not everyone shares such a pragmatic approach. Lawmakers urge to punish Riyadh, this point of view is shared by both Democrats and Republicans. If such sentiments prevail, the sanctions against Saudi Arabia will be taken in accordance with the Magnitsky act: in this case, the White House will have to submit to the Congress a detailed report on the possible crime and expediency of the sanctions. In addition, the congress may block arms supplies to KSA, even bypassing the White House.

According to Republican Party senator Mark Rubio, Washington simply has no right to not react to the situation with Jamal Hashukji, otherwise the United States risks losing its credibility. By failing to take action against KSA, the American side will no longer be able “with a high head or authority to fight Putin, Assad, Maduro or openly confront the Chinese with their violations of human rights.”

Between two fires

According to experts, the White House cannot ignore the calls of legislators, as well as the public outcry around the tragic disappearance of Jamal Hashukji. On Thursday, the head of the State Department, Michael Pompeo, told the media that he had asked Donald Trump to give "a few more days" to Riyadh to complete the investigation so that the American side could compile a complete picture of what happened.

On the same day, Donald Trump himself, citing intelligence data, indirectly acknowledged the death of Jamal Hashukji.

“This is bad, very bad, and the consequences should be serious,” the politician said in response to a question from the American media.

  • Consulate General of Saudi Arabia in Istanbul
  • Reuters

Trump also clarified that sources indicating that representatives of KSA at the highest level could play a role in the massacre are credible. However, the head of the White House also added that it is “a bit early” to draw conclusions about who exactly ordered the murder of the journalist. However, the politician is preparing to make a “very strong statement” after the investigation of the tragedy is completed, and those responsible for the death of Hashukji are waiting for “serious consequences”.

It should be noted that on the eve of Michael Pompeo visited not only Riyadh, but also Ankara, where he was allegedly given to listen to the reprisal of the reporter who was at the disposal of the investigation. This was reported with reference to its own sources in the Turkish government channel ABC. However, the State Department officially refuted this information, and Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt авavuşoлуlu stated that Ankara did not broadcast “any audio recordings of Pompeo or other American officials.”

According to experts, the Turkish side will now soften its position.

“Turkey will try to use this story to improve relations with Washington, it will tack, and this is already very noticeable. Ankara is ready for political compromise, ”said the director of the Franklin Roosevelt Foundation for the Study of the USA at Moscow State University in an interview with RT. Mv Lomonosov Yuri Rogulev.

The fact is that the White House is extremely unprofitable version, according to which the order of torture was given personally by the leadership of KSA.

“It is clear that Trump should take some steps towards the congress and the American public opinion, which does not like Saudi Arabia very much. Allied relations with Riyadh are like a bone in the throat for Americans, especially since the United States is at the height of the election campaign, this also cannot be ignored. Trump was in a very difficult situation, ”- says Ivan Tsvetkov.

  • US President Donald Trump and King Saudi Arabia Salman Bin Abdel-Aziz Al Saud
  • Reuters

According to the expert, most likely, there is still no direct evidence that the crown prince was personally involved in the murder, and Washington would insist that the Saudis only wanted to deliver Hashukji to KSA, and he died as a result of some tragic accident.

Yuri Rogulev adheres to a similar point of view. As the expert explained, the White House will try to put everything on the brakes, another question is how it will turn out.

"This is a serious problem for the American leadership, as we are talking about a person who lived in the United States and worked in one of the largest newspapers, among other things, critical of Trump," the expert explained in an interview with RT. “They may also come up again with questions about Saudi Arabia’s radical ties with Al-Qaida *, which have been artificially jammed in the past. The question of the connection between the Saudi representatives and the September 11 terrorist attack remains open. Now these topics can also return to the public agenda. ”

Meanwhile, the expectation of the official results of the investigation may be delayed: literally the day before, one of the suspects in the case died in Riyadh. According to the Turkish edition of Yeni Şafak, Saudi Arabian Air Force lieutenant Meshal Saad El Bostani died as a result of an accident, the details of the accident are still unknown. The Turkish side claims that he could be among the killers of Hashukji.

Speaking about the motives that are currently guided by the White House, experts draw attention to both the economic and the political background.

According to Rogulyov, for Trump, the refusal of arms contracts with Riyadh is unacceptable, this would mean the failure of his gun trip to Saudi Arabia, held last year.

“This will be a big blow personally for Trump. Saudi Arabia plays a crucial role for the United States, it is an opponent of Iran, and also participates in the Sunni-Shiite conflicts advantageous to the West. Therefore, most likely, they will simply try to find some kind of “switchman” who will be declared guilty of the death of the journalist, ”the expert concluded.

* Al-Qaida - an organization recognized as terrorist by the decision of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation of February 14, 2003.