US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has met with Saudi King Salman over the disappearance of Saudi writer Jamal Khashoggi.
Pompeo arrived at a royal palace in Riyadh on Tuesday. The king greeted him by saying: "I hope you are comfortable here."
Pompeo responded: "Thank you for accepting my visit on behalf of President (Donald) Trump."
Pompeo is to also meet with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Mohammed, whom Khashoggi wrote critically about in The Washington Post and whose rise in power saw the writer go into a self-imposed exile in the US.
Khashoggi disappeared two weeks ago at the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul.
Turkey fears Khashoggi was killed and dismembered at the consulate. Saudi Arabia previously called the allegation "baseless," but reports suggest the kingdom may soon acknowledge the writer was killed there.
Meanwhile the United Nations' high commissioner for human rights is urging Saudi Arabia and Turkey to "reveal everything they know about the disappearance and possible extrajudicial killing" of Khashoggi.
Michelle Bachelet said: "Given there seems to be clear evidence that Mr. Khashoggi entered the consulate and has never been seen since, the onus is on the Saudi authorities to reveal what happened to him
Turkish forensic investigators overnight searched the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul, where Khashoggi disappeared on October 2.
Australian Associated Press
