“Recent reports indicating that the US government has made a final conclusion are inaccurate,” State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said in a statement on Saturday.
The statement followed reports in the US media that the CIA had held Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman responsible for the October 2 killing.
“There remain numerous unanswered questions with respect to the murder of Mr Khashoggi,” Nauert said in her statement.
“The State Department will continue to seek all relevant facts. In the meantime, we will continue to consult Congress, and work with other nations to hold accountable those involved in the killing of Jamal Khashoggi.”
The Washington Post says the CIA has concluded that the Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman did give the order to kill the journalist.
The American spy agency is not commenting on the reports. Meanwhile, the Saudi embassy in Washington says the CIA assessment is false.
If not, the CIA finding is the first direct confirmation of the crown prince’s involvement after Turkey said the order to kill came from the highest level in the kingdom.
Where does the finding leave Saudi-US relations? And where does it leave the fate of bin Salman?
US President Donald Trump has been briefed on Khashoggi’s murder after a CIA assessment that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, also known as MBS, ordered the killing, the White House has said.
Trump discussed the CIA assessment by phone with the agency’s director, Gina Haspel, and Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders told reporters on Saturday.
The CIA believes the Saudi crown prince, the country’s de-facto ruler, ordered Khashoggi’s killing.
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Speaking to reporters earlier on Saturday, Trump had reiterated that he had been told MBS had not played a role in the journalist’s death.
“We haven’t been briefed yet,” Trump said.
Trump and top administration officials have said Saudi Arabia should be held to account for any involvement in Khashoggi’s death and have imposed sanctions on 17 Saudis for their role in the killing.
But they have also stressed the importance of Washington’s ties with Riyadh, even while US lawmakers have called on the administration to punish Saudi Arabia over the murder.
US Vice President Mike Pence has said the US will hold the murderers of Jamal Khashoggi to account, following reports in US media that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman ordered the killing.
“The United States is determined to hold all of those accountable who are responsible for that murder,” Pence said on the sidelines of the APEC summit in Papua New Guinea.
The vice president described the murder of the Saudi journalist as an “atrocity” and an “affront to a free and independent press” but declined to comment on classified information.
Pence spoke after American media outlets, citing US intelligence officials, reported that the CIA had concluded that bin Salman was involved in the plot to kill Khashoggi.
“We are going to follow the facts,” said Pence, adding that the US wanted to preserve a “strong and historic partnership with Saudi Arabia.”
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