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U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, left, walks with Saudi Foreign Minister Adel Jubeir, after arriving in Riyadh Image Credit: AP

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo met on Tuesday with King Salman over the disappearance of Saudi writer Jamal Khashoggi, two weeks ago during a visit to the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul.

Pompeo arrived at the Yamamah royal palace in Riyadh, where King Salman greeted him. America's top diplomat thanked the king "for accepting my visit on behalf of President (Donald) Trump" before going into a closed-door meeting.

In a tweet the Saudi Foreign Ministry said that during the meeting, historical relationship between the two countries were reviewed, and the current situation in the region. Also the joint efforts being exerted were discussed.

The Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Salman assured Pompeo of the “strong historical relations” between their countries and also discussed joint efforts exerted toward regional developments.

The crown prince told the visitor during the meeting: “We are strong and old allies. We face our challenges together - the past, the day of, tomorrow.”

Pompeo will hold talks in Turkey on Wednesday, according to the Turkish foreign ministry.

Pompeo landed in Riyadh in the morning and was greeted by Saudi Foreign Minister Adel Al Jubeir and Saudi Ambassador to the United States, Prince Khalid Bin Salman. Pompeo made no remarks to media on landing.

After talks with the king, Pompeo met Foreign Minister Adel Al Jubeir and will see the Crown Prince for a second time at a dinner. He is then expected to go to Turkey.

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will be heading to Turkey after his meeting with Saudi King Salman, according to Anadolu Agency.

"Pompeo will visit Turkey on Wednesday and expected to meet his Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu."

Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu also said Turkish authorities would search the Saudi consul’s residence in Istanbul and vehicles belonging to the consulate. He offered no timeframe for those searches. Overnight, forensic teams searched the consulate building in Istanbul.

Meanwhile, a Turkish forensics team finished earlier in the morning a search inside the consulate. Technicians in coveralls, gloves and covered shoes were seen at the diplomatic mission during their hours-long search.

President Donald Trump, after speaking with King Salman yesterday, dispatched Pompeo to hold talks with King Salman, for what the State Department described as "face to face meetings with the Saudi leadership".

President Donald Trump suggested Monday that "rogue killers" could be responsible for the disappearance and presumed murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, who hasn't been seen since entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul two weeks ago.

Trump's comment came after a 20-minute phone call with Saudi Arabia's King Salman in which Trump said the king adamantly denied any knowledge of what happened to Khashoggi.

Saudi Arabia vowed to retaliate

"The effort behind the scenes is focused on avoiding a diplomatic crisis between the two countries and has succeeded in finding a pathway to deescalate tensions," said Ayham Kamel, the head of the Eurasia Group's Mideast and North African practice to AP.