'Dissatisfied' Donald Trump won't kill $110 billion deal with Saudis

US President Donald Trump with Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. Pics/AFP

President Donald Trump has said he is "not satisfied" with Saudi Arabia's account of the death of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, but asserted that he would not like to scrap an USD 110 billion arms deal with Riyadh despite a global outrage over the dissident scribe's brutal killing.

Saudi Arabia in a statement Saturday said Khashoggi (60) died following a "fistfight" at its consulate in Istanbul on October 2, without disclosing any details on the whereabouts of his body. Turkish officials believe Khashoggi - a critic of the Saudi government - was murdered and his body dismembered.

Jamal Khashoggi

"I'm not satisfied until we find the answer," Trump said, adding that sanctions were a possibility, but that halting an arms deal would "hurt us more than it would hurt them". Trump said on Saturday it was "possible" that the powerful Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman did not know about the killing. His comment came when asked about his previous statement that he would be considering severe consequences for Saudi Arabia following the journalist's death.

Trump also said the Congress would have a role to play in it."We'll have very much Congress involved in determining what to do," he said. Responding to a question, the US president indicated that he would let the Congressmen take lead on the issue of particularly determining the action that needs to be taken against Saudi Arabia.

However, he insisted that he would not like to scrap the mega arms and investment deal with Saudi Arabia as this would impact jobs in the US. "I might know a lot by Monday. I know a lot already. We're going to know over the next two or three days, we're going to know a lot. We're getting a lot of information in as we speak," he said.

Scribe's fiancee's parting message
The fiancee of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, Hatice Cengiz, has published a final message to him, after authorities from Saudi Arabia admitted he was killed at the country's consulate in Istanbul.

"They took your bodily presence from my world. But your beautiful laugh will remain in my soul forever. My darling #jkhashoggi," she wrote on Twitter on Saturday evening. Attached to the tweet is a video of Khashoggi giving a TV documentary interview.

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