People Involved In Jamal Khashoggi Case Banned From US

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced on Monday that 16 Saudi Arabian citizens involved in the death of journalist Jamal Khashoggi will be banned from traveling to the United States.

“In cases where the Secretary of State has credible information that officials of foreign governments have been involved in significant corruption or gross violations of human rights, those individuals and their immediate family members are ineligible for entry into the United States,” a statement from Pompeo’s office said.

Khashoggi, a Saudi-born American journalist, was killed inside the Saudi consulate in Instanbul in October 2018. His body has never been recovered. Khashoggi was an outspoken critic of Saudi Arabia’s royal family, and his murder sparked outrage over Saudi Arabia’s human rights record.

The Saudi nationals banned from the U.S. include Saud al-Qahtani, an advisor to Saudi Arabia’s Prince Mohammed bin Salman. The Saudi royal family has denied ordering Khashoggi’s execution. However, the murder created public backlash against the Trump administration for not coming down harder on the Saudi government, a longtime U.S. ally.

Last November, President Donald Trump tweeted, “King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman vigorously deny any knowledge of the planning or execution of the murder of Mr. Khashoggi. Our intelligence agencies continue to assess all information, but it could very well be that the Crown Prince had knowledge of this tragic event — maybe he did and maybe he didn’t!”