The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) has come under heavy fire from the international community over the last few weeks due to the mysterious disappearance of Jamal Khashoggi, a Saudi journalist who was notoriously critical of the Saudi Royal family. The government of Turkey has accused the Saudi government of assassinating Khashoggi.
Born in Medina, Saudi Arabia in 1958, Al-Jazeera called Jamal Khashoggi “one of the most prominent Saudi and Arab journalists and political commentators of his generation.” He studied in America and earned a degree from Indiana University. Over his 30-year career, Khashoggi has reported for multiple state-run and privately-owned news organizations. He was well known for covering the Middle East in the 1990s, and arguably his greatest achievement was interviewing Osama Bin Laden several times before he became the leader of Al-Qaeda. Khashoggi was a noted reformist, and was at times openly critical of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. Khashoggi moved to Washington, D.C. and continued to publish articles critical of the KSA with The Washington Post.
On October 2, Khashoggi entered the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, Turkey in order to retrieve paperwork that would seal his marriage to his Turkish fiancée. He did not leave the consulate. Turkish officials confirmed that he was still inside the consulate as of the next day, but Saudi officials denied his presence inside. Later, Saudi officials claimed that Khashoggi left the consulate through a back door, but could provide no security footage of the event.
After his disappearance, it was revealed that Khashoggi had connections to extremist Middle Eastern group the Muslim Brotherhood. The Brotherhood believes in electoralism in an attempt to bring change to the Middle East. After the Arab Spring movement, the Saudi government became openly hostile to the Brotherhood. Many have speculated that Khashoggi’s ties to the Brotherhood could be the reason why Saudi Arabia wanted to abduct Khashoggi.
Recep Tayyip Erdogan, President of Turkey, was a personal friend of Khashoggi, and the Turkish government has been working overtime to discover the source of his disappearance. Turkish officials have claimed that they have credible evidence that a team of 15 Saudis was sent to Turkey to assassinate Khashoggi while he was inside the consulate. In response to these claims, Prince Mohammed and the Saudi government have stuck to their original claim that Khashoggi left of his own free will.
Saudi Arabia and the United States have had infamously friendly relations. In 2017, the U.S. and the KSA signed an arms deal to the tune of $350 billion over 10 years. In addition, the U.S. has assisted Saudi Arabia in its blockade of Yemen, which caused a famine. Many have accused Saudi Arabia and the U.S. of being responsible for what amounts to a genocide of the people of Yemen. Because of all of this, the United States has been a focus of intense scrutiny from both domestic media and the international community. President Donald Trump has ruled out ending the arms deal with the KSA on the basis that weapons manufacturing creates jobs for American citizens. The Jamal Khashoggi story is currently ongoing.
Be First to Comment