The fiancée of slain journalist and Saudi critic Jamal Khashoggi turned down an invitation to the White House by President Donald Trump, CNN reported.
Hatice Cengiz told pro-government Turkish channel Haber Turk last week that she believed the invite was a play at “public sympathy,” the news outlet reported.
"The statements Trump made in the first days around his invite and the statements he made afterward opposed each other,” she told the channel, CNN reported.
“They were simply statements to gain public sympathy.”
Cengiz had previously appeared open to visiting Washington after Khashoggi was killed on Oct. 2, saying if Trump “makes a genuine contribution to the efforts to reveal what happened inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul that day, I will consider accepting his invitation,” CNN reported.
But she told Haber Turk now she’ll only go if the administration takes action on her fiancé’s slaying case.
"I do not think of going to the United States," she told Haber Turk. "Whether I will go or not will depend on the formation of conscience."
The Saudi government initially denied any involvement in Khashoggi’s disappearance, then later said the 59-year-old died in a “fist fight” during interrogation — and finally admitted it was premeditated.
The Saudis have arrested 18 people over the incident, including Saud al-Qahtani, a close aide to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
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