White House defends move not to sanction Saudi crown prince

Decision not to punish royal over Khashoggi killing leaves room to work on areas of mutual agreement'

The White House has defended its decision not to directly sanction Saudi Arabia's crown prince Mohammed bin Salman over the killing of the journalist Jamal Khashoggi, as criticism grew before Washington's unveiling of a new policy towards Riyadh on Monday.

The White House spokesperson, Jen Psaki, stood by the move not to target the crown prince in an interview on Sunday, despite human rights groups and some senior Democrats expressing dismay that the administration had held him culpable, publishing an intelligence assessment that he had approved the killing of Khashoggi, without holding him accountable.