Saudi military training in US under scrutiny after base attack

Key US lawmakers have called for a halt to a Saudi military training program after a shooting rampage at a naval base in Florida in which a Saudi officer killed three American sailors.

US Defense Secretary Mark Esper said on Sunday he has ordered a review of vetting procedures while defending the training program that brought Mohammed Alshamrani to Pensacola Naval Air Station.

Alshamrani, a 21-year-old second lieutenant in the Saudi Royal Air Force, opened fire in a classroom on Friday, killing the three sailors and wounding eight other people before being shot dead by police.

Alshamrani, who was armed with a lawfully purchased Glock 9mm handgun, was reported to have posted a manifesto on Twitter before the shooting denouncing America as "a nation of evil." The FBI said Sunday they were investigating with the "presumption" it was an act of terrorism, as in most active shooter probes, but had yet to make a final determination.

White House National Security Advisor Robert O'Brien went further, however, saying: "To me, it appears to be a terrorist attack." "We'll have to see what the FBI investigation shows," O'Brien added, on CBS's "Face the Nation."
Sunday evening, deputy press secretary Judd Deere announced that Trump had spoken with the crown prince, who "reiterated Saudi Arabia's commitment to working with the United States to prevent a horrific attack like the Pensacola shooting from ever happening again."
Saudi Arabia's King Salman had previously denounced the shooting as a "heinous crime" and said the gunman "does not represent the Saudi people."
But Representative Matt Gaetz, a Republican whose Florida district includes the Pensacola base, warned the shooting "has to inform on our ongoing relationship with Saudi Arabia."