US revokes Saudi visas in first action over Khashoggi

The United States has said it was revoking visas of Saudi officials involved in the "brutal murder" of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, in its first major action against the longtime ally as global outrage escalated.

The visa curbs came as Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Khashoggi's killing inside the Saudis' Istanbul consulate had been meticulously planned, in a speech that overshadowed a long-planned investment forum in Riyadh.

Faced with mounting calls for tough measures by US lawmakers across the political spectrum, the State Department said it had identified 21 Saudis whose visas would either be revoked or who would be ineligible for future visas.

"These penalties will not be the last word on this matter from the United States. We will continue to explore additional measures to hold those responsible accountable," Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told reporters Tuesday.

"We are making very clear that the United States does not tolerate this kind of action to silence Mr. Khashoggi, a journalist, through violence," he said.

The top US diplomat said the Saudi suspects came from "the intelligence services, the royal court, the foreign ministry and other Saudi ministries." Pompeo said the United States was also looking into whether to take action under a law named after Sergei Magnitsky, the anti-corruption accountant who died in Russian custody, that would impose financial sanctions on individuals behind Khashoggi's death.

The initial US action against the Saudis came three weeks after Khashoggi, self-exiled to suburban Washington, vanished in the consulate and following contradictory statements by President Donald Trump, who has ruled out major steps such as cutting arms sales to the major defense partner.

Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office, Trump said the Saudis had a "very bad original concept" in killing the 59-year-old Saudi insider-turned-critic.

"It was carried out poorly and the cover-up was one of the worst in the history of cover-ups," Trump said.

Vice President Mike Pence, in an appearance at The Washington Post, where Khashoggi was a contributing opinion writer, denounced the "brutal murder" and said: "The world is watching. The American people want answers and we will demand that those answers are forthcoming."