The Killing of Jamal Khashoggi
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The Killing of Jamal Khashoggi
By J.M. Dei
Journalist for the Washington Post, resident of the United States, alumnus of Indiana State University; Jamal Ahmad Khashoggi, was killed inside the Saudi Arabian consulate in Ankara, Turkey on October 2nd. The Saudis initially denied it, and stated he had left the consulate, supposedly using a decoy dressed in his clothes to justify their lie. What they had not counted on is that he had turned on the recording feature on his watch and left his phone outside with his fiancé to record the event.
The Turkish government never believed the Saudi explanation and after their own investigation, including access to the recording, determined that he was in fact killed in the consulate, which led the Saudis to finally admit he died there, but in a “fistfight”. They have not provided the whereabouts of the body. One would think the body would be turned over to the family for immediate burial, but instead, they cut him into pieces and who knows what they did with them. A group of Saudis landed in Istanbul before the murder and left immediately after. Maybe they were sent to welcome him and congratulate him on his engagement. One thing is for sure, no one gets killed in a Saudi consulate without orders from the top, quite possibly Crown Prince bin Salman himself or some other very high ranking official.
Khashoggi had been a fierce critic of bin Salman and bin Salman does not like critics. He has ordered the arrest of many human rights activists and critics and is using the death penalty as a political deterrent. Per Amnesty International, “In fact, Saudi Arabia retains an atrocious human rights record and the situation has only deteriorated since [MBS] was appointed as official heir to the throne in June 2017.”
And now, in a speech at the Saudi Future investment Initiative investment forum, which many companies and business leaders boycotted after Khashoggi’s death, bin Salman stated that Khashoggi’s death “..is a heinous act that is unjustifiable”, (this from a man who’s country is one of the worst human rights abusers on the planet) and then he cautioned anyone who may want “to manipulate the situation” and sow division between Saudi Arabia and Turkey. Is he trying to divert this to some rogue elements who want to harm relations between the Saudis and Turkey? It may be a matter of time before the Saudis grab some people, preferably critics of bin Salman, claim they were responsible and promptly behead them. And the United States and other “democracies” will continue to support this brutal dictatorship, no questions asked.
ALJAZEERA has a very good article about bin Salman and it can be found here: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2018/10/mohammed-bin-salman-dark-side-saudi-arabia-crown-prince-181015123719153.html
About the author: J.M. Dei is semi-retired “..with a lot of time on my hands to do this sort of thing.”
Photo credit: By POMED – Mohammed bin Salman’s Saudi Arabia: A Deeper Look, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=73635027
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