Pompeo says release of American pastor by Turkish court would be 'important step'

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Wednesday that the release of American pastor Andrew Brunson by a Turkish court at his next hearing on Friday would be an important step and the right thing to do.

"It is the right thing for them to do, it is the humanitarian thing for Turkey to do," Pompeo told the annual Jewish Institute for National Security of America (JINSA) dinner in Washington, D.C. "I am very hopeful that before too long he and his wife will be able to return to the United States."

(Reporting by Lesley Wroughton; Editing by Toni Reinhold)