Could killing of Washington Post writer by Saudi 'murder team' finally put crack in US support of 'criminal regime'?
Spurring
fresh outrage among those who criticize the cozy relationship between
the U.S. government and the Saudi monarchy—with emphasis on Crown
Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MbS)—political dissident and Washington
Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi, a Saudi Arabia national living in
self-imposed exile abroad, was tortured and killed last week by a
Saudi government 'murder team,' according to Turkish sources, while
inside the Saudi consulate building in Istanbul, Turkey.
"The
initial assessment of the Turkish police is that Mr Khashoggi has
been killed at the consulate of Saudi Arabia in Istanbul. We believe
that the murder was premeditated and the body was subsequently moved
out of the consulate," one of the two Turkish officials told
Reuters on Saturday. The writer, the news agency reported, entered
the consulate last Tuesday to secure documents for his forthcoming
marriage while his fiancee waited outside. He never came back out,
she said, and has not been seen or heard from since.
Citing
two people with knowledge of Turkey's probe, the Post's reporting
says that the 15-member Saudi hit team was sent "specifically
for the murder" and that the entire thing was "pre-planned."
According to the Post:
The
killing, if confirmed, would mark a startling escalation of Saudi
Arabia's effort to silence dissent. Under direction from the crown
prince, Saudi authorities have carried out hundreds of arrests under
the banner of national security, rounding up clerics, business
executives and even women’s rights advocates.
"If the reports of
Jamal's murder are true, it is a monstrous and unfathomable act,"
Fred Hiatt, the director of The Post’s editorial page, said in a
statement. "Jamal was — or, as we hope, is — a committed,
courageous journalist. He writes out of a sense of love for his
country and deep faith in human dignity and freedom. He is respected
in his country, in the Middle East and throughout the world. We have
been enormously proud to publish his writings."
Khashoggi may have been
considered especially dangerous by the Saudi leadership, analysts
said. His criticisms of the royal family and its vast powers were
delivered from his self-imposed exile in the United States and could
not be dismissed as the complaints of a longtime dissident.
"Unbelievable"
and "WTF!!!" declared CodePink's Medea Benjamin, a U.S.
peace activist and expert on the Saudi's human rights record, after
reading the news.
More:
Unbelievable! You’ve gotta read this Reuters piece: https://t.co/yVzNXbgrnd— Medea Benjamin (@medeabenjamin) October 7, 2018
Turkish authorities say #Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, who disappeared after entering Saudi consulate in Istanbul, was killed inside by Saudi hit team. #MBSMurdersKhashoggi
WTF!!! Turkey says @WashingtonPost journalist Jamal Khashoggi, a critic of the #Saudi government, was killed in Saudi consulate in Turkey by a hit team! https://t.co/Abm0j1cqJC— Medea Benjamin (@medeabenjamin) October 7, 2018
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