Khashoggi’s son shakes hands with Saudi rulers in awkward meeting after reports of body parts found
In what is surely one of the worst cases of adding insult to injury, the son of slain journalist Jamal Khashoggi was brought to meet Saudi Arabia’s rulers who offered condolences amidst accusations that they ordered the murder.
Saudi Arabia's King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman met with both Khashoggi’s son Salah and his brother Sahel in Riyadh on Tuesday, the state-run news agency SPA reported.
Pictures of the cynical photo-op quickly appeared online, showing an uncomfortable and unhappy looking Salah bin Jamal Khashoggi shaking hands with the Saudi crown prince as a guard looked on in the background.
Salah has reportedly been banned from leaving Saudi Arabia for the past year. Global Opinions editor for the Washington Post Karen Attiah said that in her conversations with Khashoggi (a contributor to the paper), he had been "most upset" that Riyadh had imposed travel bans on his children in order to "put pressure on him" over his critical writings.
It is also true #Khashoggi's son is a U.S. dual citizen. In our conversations, Jamal was most upset that Saudi Arabia imposed travel bans on children to put pressure on him for his writing. #Khashoggihttps://t.co/dWS8FLnaPa
— Karen Attiah (@KarenAttiah) October 22, 2018
The meeting took place as unconfirmed reports were emerging that Khashoggi’s body parts had been found in the garden of the Saudi consul general’s home nearby the consulate where the journalist was murdered.
This is a picture for the ages. #Khashoggi's son, Salah, is summoned to the palace and has to shake hands with the man accused of ordering his father's murder. pic.twitter.com/83W3SGkY6z
— Raf Sanchez (@rafsanchez) October 23, 2018
Wow, MBS forced Jamal #Khashoggi’s son - who is restricted from leaving Saudi Arabia - to take this picture with him. You can see the discomfort and anger on his face. pic.twitter.com/fiHOSXhgm3
— Khaled Beydoun (@KhaledBeydoun) October 23, 2018
The son of #JamalKhashoggi (banned from travel) received by King Salman (for condolences).How ruthless it is for a guy to stand inches away from the person who is believed to be his dad's killer.Ruthless #khashoggipic.twitter.com/CGRrXnrEgO
— Fadi Al-Qadi (@fqadi) October 23, 2018
A photo is worth a thousand words they say. #Khashoggi’s son (pic on right) looks absolutely distraught to be forced into this farse. Shaking the hand of the man who ordered the brutal murder of your own father in order to keep yourself and your family safe from more brutality. pic.twitter.com/sOpm43Uceo
— Elizabeth King (@ElizabethKing) October 23, 2018
Meanwhile, CIA director Gina Haspel has traveled to Turkey to assist the ongoing investigation into Khashoggi’s death, but her presence has sparked speculation that she will attempt to convince Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan not to release information which would implicate the Saudi crown prince, a US ally, in the journalist’s murder.
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