The murder, dismemberment of the body and disappearance of the remains of US-based journalist Jamal Khashoggi in the Saudi Arabian Consulate in the Turkish city of Istanbul on October 6 will be remembered for a long time as one of the most shocking, vilest acts of state-sponsored murder in recent world history.
Khashoggi, a former media agent of the Saudi state-turned-harsh critic and contributor to the Washington Post, entered the consulate on that day in order to obtain marriage consent forms. He never came out alive. Turkish authorities soon revealed that a team of Saudi intelligence agents entered the country that morning, including a mortician who carried a bone saw in his luggage. The Turks said Khashoggi was tortured, killed and dismembered. The Saudi agents smuggled the remains out of the consulate and it is yet to be found.
At first Saudi authorities kept sealed lips on the matter, graduating into expression of ignorance, followed by dubious claims that Khashoggi left the consulate. It turned out that the Saudi killer team brought along a man of Khashoggi’s age and body build, who donned his clothes after the murder and walked out of the building in order to deceive spy cameras and investigators.
After many weeks of deception, prevarication and changing of stories, the Saudis now claim that Khashoggi’s killing was carried out in a “rogue operation by those acting beyond the scope of their authority.” The totality of evidence however points to a murder operation meticulously planned and approved at the highest levels, most probably by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who runs the country on behalf of his ailing father, King Salman. The Crown Prince publicly spoke on the matter for the first time yesterday. He said at an investment forum in Riyadh, “The incident was very painful for all Saudis. It’s a repulsive incident and no one can justify it. Those responsible will be held accountable…In the end justice will prevail.”
It is very doubtful if this will happen without maximum pressure from the international community. Matters are not helped at all by US President Donald Trump’s shamelessly selfish reluctance to stand up for the truth in this matter. He openly admitted that he did not want to jeopardise a $110bn contract to sell American weapons to Saudi Arabia, weapons that the Saudis don’t even need. However, due to strident pressure from US lawmakers, the US State Department revoked the visas of 21 Saudis who are identified as being linked to the murder. British Prime Minister Theresa May said Britain was “taking action against all suspects to prevent them from entering the UK” and France also said it would take “punitive measures” if Saudi Arabia was “proven” to be behind the murder.
Africa and Nigeria specifically cannot do much by way of sanctioning the Saudis but we must join in expressing our utter revulsion at what happened. In Nigeria, Saudi Arabia is a country that is highly respected because of its special status at the centre of the Muslim world and the host of Islam’s two holiest mosques. Saudi Arabia is also the de facto leader of OPEC, upon whose policies Nigeria’s economic health largely depends. Since the 1950s we have had very cordial relations with that country. The fact that Saudi Arabia is not democratic in the Western sense has never been an impediment to our close cultural and economic ties. Nigerians have also watched with fascination Prince Mohammed ibn Salman’s attempts in the past two years to reform Saudi society.
Unfortunately, the Khashoggi murder and the increasing body of evidence pointing to its being sponsored at the highest level of government will severely damage Saudi Arabia’s moral standing in the comity of nations. Even while the truth about the Khashoggi murder is being unearthed, we urge the Saudis to also come clean on the 2015 stampede at Jamrat that cost hundreds of lives, including hundreds of Nigerian pilgrims. Both are necessary to maintain Saudi Arabia’s important position of respect in the world.
