Slain Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi
A funeral prayer in absentia will be performed for slain Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi in Mecca and Medina on Friday.
Salah Khashoggi, son of murdered Washington Post columnist, said on Twitter the prayer will be performed in Medina following the morning prayer, as well as in Mecca following the Friday prayer.
Salah said earlier that condolences for his father will be accepted from Friday to Sunday in house in Jeddah.
Khashoggi, a frequent contributor to The Washington Post, was killed Oct. 2 inside the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul.
After weeks of denying any involvement in the crime, Saudi Arabia later admitted that Khashoggi had been killed inside the consulate but claimed the Saudi royal family had no prior knowledge of any plot to murder the journalist.
His body has yet to be returned to his family, which has been requesting its return, amid reports that it was chemically dissolved.
Dutch Foreign Minister Stef Blok said Thursday he will defend an arms embargo to Saudi Arabia at the UN Security Council.A majority of the House of Representatives has called on the government of the Netherlands to introduce resolutions of a "ceasefire in Yemen" and "arms embargo against Saudi Arabia".Noting that he will defend the arms embargo in the UN Security Council, Blok added that it would not go that far since the Netherlands has "a limited contribution in this matter."Blok said the Netherlands is a not big exporter of weapons, stressing that “countries such as France, the U.S. and the U.K., which are major arms exporters, do not want to apply the arms embargo."Washington Post slams Riyadh's new Khashoggi accountHe also said the Dutch government would like to take further steps on Yemen, but "big countries" are not willing to do so.Blok pointed out that he would like to stick to the "limited arms export system" implemented by the Netherlands toward Saudi Arabia."The situation in Yemen is horrific and dramatic," Blok said.He noted that he would rather like to defend in the UN Security Council the cease-fire and humanitarian aid in Yemen, adding that: "Those who cause it are committing a terrible crime."Impoverished Yemen has remained wracked by violence since 2014, when Houthi rebels overran much of the country, including the capital, Sanaa.The conflict escalated in 2015 when Saudi Arabia and its Arab allies launched a devastating air campaign in Yemen aimed at rolling back Houthi gains.
Dutch FM to defend arms embargo to Saudi Arabia at UNSC
The Washington Post called "shocking in its audacity" Saudi Arabia’s new narrative Thursday on the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.Previously, the Kingdom said Khashoggi was killed in a "premeditated" operation and later acknowledged he was killed after he entered the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul by a hit team sent to return him to Saudi Arabia.The Saudi chief prosecutor's office said 11 suspects had been indicted and the death penalty was being sought for five of them.The office distanced Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman from the murder as well as his two aides alleged to have ordered the operation.In a statement, Saudi Deputy Public Prosecutor Shalaan al-Shalaan said an operation was ordered either to persuade or force Khashoggi to return to Saudi Arabia.Ahmed al-Assiri, a former deputy head of intelligence, issued an order for Khashoggi’s return Sept. 29, a day after the journalist's first visit to the consulate building.It was al-Assiri who formed a 15-member team, according to the prosecutor. He contacted a forensics expert to join it for the purpose of removing evidence from the scene in the event force had to be used.Khashoggi murder a very big mistake: Saudi FM"After surveilling the consulate, the head of the team concluded that it would not be possible to transfer the victim by force ... so the head of the team decided on murder," said the prosecutor."By offering up this incredible account, the Saudi regime is baldly defying all those, including leading members of [the U.S.] Congress, who called for full disclosure and accountability," wrote the Post's editorial board.Washington imposed sanctions on 17 individuals in connection with the murder, but the board said neither the crown prince nor Riyadh's top intelligence officials were among them.The Post said the new Saudi account revealed the operation was ordered by then-deputy chief of intelligence Ahmed al-Assiri and advised by Saud al-Qahtani, a court propagandist, who it said is close to bin Salman.Erdoğan adviser says Saudi Arabia trying to cover up Khashoggi murderRiyad did not say the two aides were complicit in the decision to kill Khashoggi and were fooled by their team’s claim that the journalist left the consulate alive."That doesn’t explain a portion of the audio recording reported by the New York Times, in which Maher Mutreb, a close associate of the crown prince, instructs an official by phone to 'tell your boss' that the mission was accomplished," it wrote.U.S. intelligence officials believe the “boss” is "almost certainly Prince Mohammed."The newspaper also urged Congress not to allow "this travesty" to continue."It should suspend all military sales and cooperation with Saudi Arabia until a credible international investigation of the Khashoggi killing is completed," it said.The cover story, it added, is just one "more instance of Mohammed bin Salman’s arrogant and reckless behavior."The true murderers of Jamal Khashoggi must be named and punished," said the board.Khashoggi’s body dismembered inside Istanbul consulate: Saudi prosecutor
Washington Post slams Riyadh's new Khashoggi account