Jamal Khashoggi, the Washington Post columnist has been missing since 2 October.

US President Donald Trump has vowed severe punishment  if Saudi Authorities were found to have been involved in killing the Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi who has been missing since 2 october. Khashoggi has been critical of Bin Salman.Trump said the West could do very powerful things to hurt the Saudis. He knows that imposing tough sanctions on Saudi Arabia  will break off diplomatic and trade relations with the Kingdom, affirming that stopping arms sales will in the end be America punishing itself.Saudi Arabia is the world's second biggest arms importer after India and roughly 60 percent of its imports come from the US. The oil - rich kingdom do play an effective and crucial role in the world economy. Last year Trump signed a defence agreement which stands to benefit US employers such as Lock heed Martin, Boeing and General Electric. Donald Trump acts with characteristic shrewdness and insight and responds pragmatically to a crisis. He knows that America can't live without an enemy. There must be a foe so that America could sell its weapons. Saudi Arabia has claimed that it will hit back against any sanctions imposed over the disappearance of Jamal Khashoggi, affirming that these threats and attempts are meant to undermine the kingdom whether through economic sanctions or political pressure.The kingdom has asserted that these allegations are nothing but repeated false accusations. Saudi Arabia has strongly hinted that Turkey and its gulf rival Qatar are seeking to manipulate rumours and allegations to attain goals and agendas that have nothing to do with the search for truth. `` If Washington imposes sanctions on Riyadh, it will stab its own economy to death.``, said Turki Aldhakhil, the general manager of Al Arabiya, the official Saudi news channel. He has maintained that Riyadh is ready to carry out measures including cuts to oil production that could drive up prices rising to $100 a barrel. The French, German and UK foreign secretaries have released a joint statement, asking the Saudi government urgently to give a full  and minute account of Khashoggi's disappearance. `` Light must be shed on Khashoggi's disappearance.``, said The European foreign ministers. They have asserted that they are handling this incident very seriously and therefore there must be a credible and trustworthy investigation to lay bare the truth about what happened and to identify those bearing full responsibility for the disappearance of Khashoggi. Because of Turkey's complaint that Saudi Arabia is not allowing Turkish investigators to enter the consulate, the European foreign secretaries have encouraged joint Saudi - Turkish efforts and expected the Saudi government to provide a complete and detailed response.

Imposing tough economic sanctions and political pressure on the kingdom could result in military alliance between Saudi Arabia and Russia and therefore an end to intelligence sharing.