CHICAGO (NewsNation Now) — Saudi Arabia’s crown prince and de facto ruler is complicit in the murder of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi, according to a newly declassified U.S. intelligence report.
In 2018, Khashoggi went to the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, Turkey, to pick up wedding documents, where a team of operatives was waiting. He was brutally killed.
Saudi Arabia denied any knowledge of the incident for weeks.
The report concludes that the crown prince likely approved the killing but did not go as far as to say it was ordered. It’s a finding that’s been several years in the making.
NewsNation anchor Rudabeh Shahbazi sat down with a woman who says she is Khashoggi’s widow.
They talked about the release of the DNI report and her reaction when she heard the news that the journalist was killed in Turkey.
She told NewsNation she didn’t come forward and identify herself as his wife before because of concerns for her safety. She also said she was arrested when they got engaged, but now, in the United States, she feels free to speak and continue his message.
“I’m not asking about revenge,” she said. “We need together, all of us, to put to the pressure to save people’s life. Jamal is not here, but we all can continue with his message, with his mission, and this is my duty now, and I will go on with this.”
Shahbazi: What about journalists around the world? His case has received a lot of attention, but there are a lot of other journalists around the world who are being imprisoned, tortured, killed. What’s your message for all of them?
I ask President Biden, again, as much as you’ve done to Jamal, to help all of them to be released. I don’t want to hear ever any journalist he lost his life because he just delivered people’s message and have a free press—this what I wish.
NewsNation also talked about his time in Turkey—it has been widely reported that he was at the embassy to get his papers to marry another woman and discuss why she believes Khashoggi was targeted and what they talked about concerning the Saudi royal family.
Watch the full candid interview on NewsNation Prime on Monday beginning at 8/7 p.m. CST on NewsNation.