Khashoggi family denies settlement with Saudi Arabia
The children of murdered dissident Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi say they have not discussed any sort of settlement related to his brutal killing by Saudi agents in the Turkish city of Istanbul last year.
In a statement released on Twitter, Khashoggi’s elder son Salah on Wednesday denied being in talks to reach a settlement with Saudi authorities.
“Currently the trial is taking place and no settlement has been discussed or is being discussed,” the statement read.
The Washington Post reported last week that his children had received million-dollar houses and monthly five-figure payments as compensation for the killing. The report said King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud approved the payments to Khashoggi’s family late last year in a bid to acknowledge that “a big injustice has been done” and “to make a wrong right.”
Khashoggi, a prominent critic of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and a US resident, disappeared on October 2, 2018 after visiting the Saudi consulate in Istanbul to obtain documentation for his forthcoming marriage.
Saudi Arabia initially claimed he had left the consulate alive, but weeks later admitted that he was killed inside the diplomatic mission and blamed his death on a group of Saudi operatives.
Turkish authorities believe that a 15-person “hit squad” was sent from Saudi Arabia to Istanbul to kill the 61-year-old journo.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said last year that the order to slay Khashoggi had been issued from “the highest levels” of the Saudi government, suggesting that the crown prince had ordered such a gruesome crime.
A purported transcript of an audio recording of Khashoggi’s killing described the last painful moments of Khashoggi’s life, noting that his screams and gasps could be heard on the tape. It also identified the sounds of saw and cutting as the victim's body was dismembered.
Saudi Arabia has been facing international condemnation over the brutal murder.
The CIA is said to have concluded that bin Salman had “probably ordered” the murder.
Many members of US Congress have publicly acknowledged that based on CIA assessments, they remained convinced that the Saudi prince was responsible for Khashoggi's killing.
US President Donald Trump has publicly said he is not concerned whether the Saudi prince was involved, arguing that the Saudi alliance with the US benefits Washington due to the kingdom's purchases of weapons and its hostility to Iran.
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