Washington, Oct 14 (PTI) A top American Senator on Sunday demanded action against Saudi Arabia if the country is found to be responsible for the disappearance of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi, who was last seen inside a Saudi consulate in Turkey.

Saudi Arabia has denied the allegation and has said that the dissident Saudi journalist left its consulate in Istanbul.

The Saudi Arabian journalist was declared missing last week after he did not emerge from the Saudi consulate in Istanbul after 11 hours. Turkish authorities believe he was killed inside the consulate.

The United States has sought detailed information from Saudi Arabia on this issue. US President Donald Trump has said that he would soon be speaking with the Saudi King, but has opposed the idea of cancelling the mega USD 110 billion trade deal with the Saudis.

On Sunday Senators from Democratic party and Republican party sought tough action against the Saudis if the reports turned out to be true. The Senators pledged a strong Congressional response.

"I don't think we should continue as business as usual, until we know exactly what's happened here, because what we do know is this. He walked into that consulate, and he never came out," Republican Senator Marco Rubio told CNN in an interview.

"So, the only two things that could have happened is, he's alive and somehow still in there, or he's dead and the Saudis are the ones who did it. There's no other explanation for it, because if there was video of him leaving, they would have shown it by now," he said.

The Saudi denial on allegations of its role in the disappearance of Khashoggi rings hollow, former CIA Director John Brennan said, asserting that there has to be full accounting of it.

"If Khashoggi had disappeared in Turkey when he was at a hotel or a private residence, I think there is plausible deniability on the part of the Saudi government. But he disappeared when there is video evidence of him being at the consulate, the Saudi consulate, a diplomatic mission, under the full control of Saudi Arabia. So their denials ring hollow, very much ring hollow,”"Brennan told NBC News in an interview.

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