Outgoing US Ambassador to UN suggests that Saudi Government needs to be held in account for Khashoggi’s murder

In an apparent break with President Donald Trump, outgoing US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley suggested the Saudi government needs to be held in continued account for the murder of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

“The whole situation with Khashoggi is, we can’t give them a pass. We can’t,” Haley said in an interview with The Atlantic magazine conducted Wednesday and released Friday. “The reason is, you have Saudi government officials that did this in a Saudi consulate. The Saudi government doesn’t get a pass. We can’t condone it, we can’t ever say it’s okay, we can’t ever support thuggish behavior, and we have to say that,” Haley said.

Haley acknowledged that the US had imposed sanctions against Saudi individuals allegedly involved in the dissident journalist’s death, but said the US needed to continue to “push back” until there was full accountability. Asked specifically about whether Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman needed to be held to account, Haley said “the administration needs to decide.”