Khashoggi's editor calls 'bullshit' on Saudi explanation of death



Washington - Jamal Khashoggi's former editor at the Washington Post has described the Saudi Foreign Ministry's explanation of the journalist's death as "utter bullshit."



Jamal Khashoggi
Jamal Khashoggi

 

Global opinions editor Karen Attiah tweeted that she was "freshly angry all over again" at a statement quoted by Saudi state media SPA.
Saudi prosecutors said that "an argument erupted between him [Khashoggi] and others whom he met in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul leading to a fist fight which led to his death," according to SPA.
"What I hate about the statement is the use of the passive construction to imply this was an accident. Jamal didn’t just 'die during a struggle.' Khashoggi was killed. By Saudi men. In a consulate. His life was taken from him," Attiah tweeted.
"Khashoggi was a 60 year old man. What sort of equal 'fight' would he have had against 15 other men? And who brings a bone saw to a 'discussion'?! The stupidity of the Saudi explanation is mindboggling," she added.
The editor also described the Saudi explanation as "insulting," before asking a series of questions.
"Then what happened to the body? Why did officials lie and say he left the consulate? What evidence do they have to support that there was a fist fight?"
Earlier, Attiah retweeted a statement from Republican Senator Lindsey Graham which appeared to question Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's involvement in the dissident's death.
"First we were told Mr Khashoggi supposedly left the consulate and there was blanket denial of any Saudi involvement. Now, a fight breaks out and he’s killed in the consulate, all without knowledge of Crown Prince," Graham tweeted.
Attiah added: "And we are supposed to believe, that Mohammed Bin Salman had no knowledge of this, even though his right hand man has been implicated, and a team of 15 men flew in on private planes entered a consulate on foreign soil to carry this out?"
"Journalists and whistleblowers: Time to step up and find out the real truth of what happened to Khashoggi," she said.

 


Saturday, October 20th 2018
(dpa)
           


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