The US secretary of state insists he will press Saudi Arabia’s crown prince to ensure that the killers of journalist Jamal Khashoggi are held accountable.

Mike Pompeo is meeting Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) in Saudi Arabia as part of his Middle East tour.

The relationship between Riyadh and Washington remains tense following the October assassination of ‘Washington Post’ columnist Mr Khashoggi at the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul.

Members of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s entourage have been implicated in the killing and US members of Congress have demanded America pull back its support of the Saudi-led war in Yemen.

Mr Pompeo said: “We will continue to have a conversation with the crown prince and the Saudis about ensuring that the accountability is full and complete with respect to the unacceptable murder of Jamal Khashoggi.

“We’ll continue to talk about that and make sure we have all the facts so that they are held accountable certainly by the Saudis, but by the United States as well, where appropriate.”

Mr Pompeo has also said that an ongoing boycott of Qatar by four of America’s allies in the Middle East “has dragged on too long”.

Stopping off in the small, energy-rich nation on the tour, he made a repeated point to say that “great things” were happening between Qatar and the US.

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