Khashoggi’s ‘last piece’ calls for free press

Washington, October 18

Two weeks after he disappeared, The Washington Post has published what it said appears to be Jamal Khashoggi’s final column, in which the missing Saudi journalist writes of the importance of a free press in the Arab world.

Such a forum is currently lacking, says Khashoggi, a Post contributor and US resident who disappeared entering Saudi Arabia’s consulate in Istanbul on October 2.

“The Arab world is facing its own version of an Iron Curtain, imposed not by external actors but through domestic forces vying for power,” he writes.

“The Arab world needs a modern version of the old transnational media so citizens can be informed about global events. More important, we need to provide a platform for Arab voices,” Khashoggi writes.

“Through the creation of an independent international forum, isolated from the influence of nationalist governments spreading hate through propaganda, ordinary people in the Arab world would be able to address the structural problems their societies face.” 

The ultimate fate of Khashoggi — whose writings have been critical of powerful Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman - is still unknown, but leaks by anonymous Turkish officials have painted a picture of him allegedly meeting a grisly demise in the consulate at the hands of Saudi agents. In the introduction to Khashoggi’s column  — the Post’s Global Opinions editor Karen Attiah said the newspaper held off on publishing it in the hopes that he would return. — AFP

Man linked to Saudi prince in question 

• A man who previously travelled with Saudi Crown Prince Mohd bin Salman’s entourage to the US entered the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul just before  Jamal Khashoggi vanished there
• Images published on Thursday by a pro-govt Turkish newspaper shows the man also later outside the Saudi consul general’s home, checking out of a Turkish hotel with a large suitcase

US, britain, France ditch Saudi summit 

• • Britain, France, the US and the Netherlands have decided not to attend an investment summit in Riyadh as international pressure on Saudi Arabia over the disappearance of journalist Jamal Khashoggi grows
  • Terming the issue “very serious”, these countries said “the full truth of this affair be known and those responsible for the journalist’s disappearance must be held to account”

Suspect killed in suspicious car accident 

• A Turkish daily reported on Thursday that one of the suspects involved in the case was killed in a “suspicious car accident” in Riyadh even as investigators in Ankara expanded their probe to two wooded areas outside Istanbul
• Mashal Saad al-Bostani, 31, a lieutenant of the Saudi Royal Air Force, was among the 15 suspects who left Turkey on October 2 after going to Saudi Arabia’s Istanbul consulate