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Saudi dissident Jamal Khashoggi 'missing after visit to consulate' Saudi dissident Jamal Khashoggi 'missing after visit to consulate'
(about 3 hours later)
Two people close to the Saudi political commentator Jamal Khashoggi, who left for the US last year fearing retribution for his critical views, have raised concerns about his whereabouts, saying he failed to emerge from Saudi Arabia’s consulate in Istanbul on Tuesday. A Saudi journalist known as one of the country’s most outspoken critics has gone missing after visiting its consulate in Istanbul, raising fears about his safety.
Khashoggi’s Turkish fiancee and a close friend said he had not left the diplomatic mission after entering to secure documentation of his divorce so he could remarry. Jamal Khashoggi, a prominent Saudi commentator who writes a regular column for the Washington Post, entered the Saudi Arabian diplomatic mission in the Turkish city after midday on Tuesday for a visit relating to filing a divorce before he can remarry.
The woman, who asked not to be named, said she had waited outside the consulate from 1pm local time (11am BST) and called the police when he had not reappeared. His Turkish fiancee, who waited outside for him for 12 hours on Tuesday, said he had failed to come out and called the police.
“I don’t know what’s happening. I don’t know if he’s inside or if they took him somewhere else,” she said by telephone from outside the compound. “I don’t know what’s happening. I don’t know if he’s inside or if they took him somewhere else,” she told Reuters by telephone from outside the Saudi mission in Istanbul, where she was waiting for a second day.
Turkish and Saudi authorities, including the Istanbul consulate and the Saudi embassy in Washington, did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Another close friend also said the 59-year-old journalist had not left the consulate, a claim disputed by a Saudi official. It is not known if Khashoggi was able to leave the mission, is being held against his will inside or was taken elsewhere.
Relations between Turkey and Saudi Arabia have been strained since Ankara stood by Qatar in a regional dispute. With over 1.6 million followers on Twitter, Khashoggi is a prolific commentator in print and on television. He was famous for interviewing Osama bin Laden several times and also served as a media aide under Prince Turki bin Faisal Al Saud, when the latter was director general of the Saudi intelligence agency.
Turkey has also worked with Iran, Saudi Arabia’s arch-rival in the Middle East, to try to reduce fighting in northern Syria, and Iranian and Turkish military chiefs exchanged visits last year. He left Saudi Arabia over a year ago to live in self-exile in the US, where he spoke out against the new leadership of de facto ruler crown prince Mohammad Bin Salman.
When asked about the situation, the US Department of State said: “We have seen these reports and are seeking more information at this time.” In one of his articles published last year, he said he had left the country to raise his voice. “To do otherwise would betray those who languish in prison. I can speak when so many cannot,” he wrote.
Khashoggi, a former Saudi newspaper editor and adviser to the retired Saudi intelligence chief Prince Turki al-Faisal, has lived in self-imposed exile in Washington DC for more than a year. The veteran journalist had previously expressed concerns about his safety. Khashoggi told the Wall Street Journal after leaving Saudi Arabia that “it was becoming so suffocating back at home that I was beginning to fear for myself.”
In this time, he has written columns in the Washington Post criticising Saudi Arabia’s policies towards Qatar and Canada, the war in Yemen, and a crackdown on the media and activists. Saudi authorities detained scores of businessmen – including members of the royal family, in the Ritz Carlton hotel in Riyadh, in what was billed as a campaign against corruption.
“I have left my home, my family and my job, and I am raising my voice,” he wrote in September 2017. “To do otherwise would betray those who languish in prison. I can speak when so many cannot.” Among those held in detention was prince Al-Waleed bin Talal, who owned the Al-Arab news channel, an Arabic-language service run by Khashoggi. Talal had been critical of the King Salman’s moves to empower his son, the crown prince.
Mohamed Soltan, an Egyptian-American activist who sees Khashoggi regularly in Washington, said he was in the US on an O visa, a temporary residency visa awarded to foreigners “who possess extraordinary ability” in the sciences, arts, education and other fields, are recognised internationally, and have applied for permanent residency status. The Washington Post’s Opinions editor, Eli Lopez, said in a statement that the newspaper had been unable to reach Khashoggi and was concerned about his whereabouts.
All public protests are banned in Saudi Arabia, as are political parties. Labour unions are illegal, the media is controlled and criticism of the royal family can lead to imprisonment. “We are monitoring the situation closely, trying to gather more information. It would be unfair and outrageous if he has been detained for his work as a journalist and commentator,” Lopez said.
Dozens of activists, clerics and intellectuals have been arrested in the past year in a crackdown on potential opponents of the kingdom’s absolute rulers. Among them was the economist Essam al-Zamil, a friend of Khashoggi, who was charged this week with joining a terrorist organisation, meeting with foreign diplomats and inciting protests. Jason Rezaian, a commentator for the Washington Post whose imprisonment in Iran drew international attention, wrote in support of his fellow columnist Khashoggi. “Over the past year, Saudi authorities – led by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman – have claimed to be undertaking a process of reform […] Troubling developments from the community of activists inside the country, however, tell a vastly different story.
Scores of businessmen were detained in November last year in the Ritz-Carlton hotel in Riyadh, in a separate campaign against corruption, unnerving some foreign investors. “Those pushing for change – whether they are women’s rights activists, journalists or ethnic minorities – report being systematically harassed by the authorities.”
Most of them were released after reaching financial settlements with authorities. A US state department spokesperson said they had seen the reports from Istanbul and were “seeking more information at this time”.
Saudi ArabiaSaudi Arabia
TurkeyTurkey
Middle East and North AfricaMiddle East and North Africa
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