Straight Talk

World expresses outrage on anniversary of journalist Jamal Khashoggi's murder and dismemberment in Saudi consulate

by Charlie Smith on October 2nd, 2019 at 6:48 AM
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      The fiancée of deceased Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi has tweeted a haunting image on the first anniversary of his murder inside a Saudi consulate in Turkey.

      Hatice Cengiz, a Turkish researcher, wrote this poignant message:

      "One year since we last met. In one year, your assassination changed the World's compass. You unleashed, by your death, the dark faces. May Allah shower you with his mercy, my love Jamal. Till we meet in heaven."

      On the day of his murder, Khashoggi needed a document from Saudi Arabia to prove that he was single before he could be married.

      To obtain this, Khashoggi and Cengiz visited the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.

      "Because we were taking steps towards our marriage, he was very happy," Cengiz recently said on Channel 4 News. "He didn't say anything bad would happen to him in there. In any case, if he felt uncomfortable, he wouldn't have gone."

      She waited outside when Khashoggi, a columnist for the Washington Post, entered the building. He never came out.

      Almost a year after her fiancé was assassinated, Hatice Cengiz spoke about the crime with Channel 4 in Britain.

      The U.S. Central Intelligence Agency has concluded that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman likely ordered the murder of Khashoggi, a prominent critic of the government.

      U.S. president Donald Trump, on the other hand, has refused to embrace those findings and continues to promote positive diplomatic relations with Saudi Arabia.

      It's believed that Khashoggi's body was dismembered inside the consulate, taken to the consul-general's home in garbage bags, and disposed in ways that it would never be found.

      The alleged commander of the hit squad guarded bin Salman during one of his visits to London.

      In a 60 Minutes interview, the Crown Prince denied ordering the execution of Khashoggi, but that's been met with widespread skepticism.

      Video: On a recent episode of 60 Minutes, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman denied ordering the execution of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi inside a Saudi consulate in Turkey.

      Saudi Arabia will host the next G20 summit in Riyadh.

      Today, Khashoggi is being remembered in demonstrations outside Saudi Arabian offices in various countries.

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