The US announced Tuesday (October 23rd) that it was revoking visas of nearly two dozen Saudi officials involved in the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, AFP reported.
British Prime Minister Theresa May on Wednesday said Britain also will revoke the visas of Saudi Arabian suspects involved in Khashoggi’s murder.
May said she will continue to exert diplomatic pressure on Saudi leaders to complete a swift and transparent investigation, and would be speaking to Saudi King Salman later Wednesday.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the US has "identified at least some of the individuals" behind the death of the Washington Post opinion writer in Saudi Arabia's Istanbul consulate.
"These penalties will not be the last word on this matter from the US. We will continue to explore additional measures to hold those [responsible] accountable," Pompeo said.
"We are making very clear that the US does not tolerate this kind of action to silence Mr. Khashoggi, a journalist, through violence," he said.
State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said the measure will affect 21 Saudi suspects who will either have their visas revoked or be ineligible for future visas.
Pompeo said the Saudis came from "the intelligence services, the royal court, the foreign ministry and other Saudi ministries".
Meanwhile, G7 foreign ministers on Tuesday issued a joint statement calling for those responsible for the killing to be held to account.
"Saudi Arabia must put in place measures to ensure something like this can never happen again," the statement said, condemning the killing in the "strongest possible terms".
The statement was agreed by the foreign ministers of Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the US, plus the high representative of the EU.
