What happened to Jamal Khashoggi?
The disappearance of Jamal Khashoggi from the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul highlights, once again, the House of Saud's division on the war in Yemen and the crown prince's decision-making.
We may never know what exactly happened to Jamal Khashoggi in the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul last week. The crocodile tears of the crown prince and other Saudi officials are probably for deception and prevarication. The disappearance of Khashoggi fits with a pattern of crude intimidation and the silencing of criticism and dissent.
Turkish sources are saying Khashoggi was murdered inside the consulate Oct. 2 and his body secretly sent to the kingdom. Saudi dissidents said as much days ago. The Saudis have offered the Turks permission to search the consulate, which strongly suggests he was removed alive or dead by the Saudi security services.
Khashoggi’s loyalty to his country has never been in doubt. He was a long-time aide to Prince Turki al-Faisal, the Saudi intelligence chief and later ambassador to the United Kingdom and the United States. His criticism of his country’s policies have always been more from disappointment than anything else.
Khashoggi has been living in exile in the United States since Saudi Arabia warned him to stop criticizing the crown prince. His last column for The Washington Post was about Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s signature policy initiative: the war in Yemen. As a brand-new 29-year-old defense minister in 2015, the prince drove the Saudi decision to intervene in a Yemeni civil war against the Zaydi Shiite Houthis. The prince is notoriously thin-skinned about any criticism, but he is especially alarmed by criticism of his war that has created the world’s worst humanitarian catastrophe, weakened the kingdom and benefits Iran.
