Washington Post awaits answers on Khashoggi murder

By Servet Gunerigok

WASHINGTON (AA) - The Washington Post said Tuesday it was still waiting for answers on the killing of its contributor Jamal Khashoggi and urged the U.S. Congress to impose sanctions on those responsible for the murder.

Khashoggi, a Saudi journalist and columnist for newspaper, went missing after entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on Oct. 2.

After weeks of denying any knowledge of his whereabouts, Saudi officials admitted that Khashoggi was killed in a fist fight inside the consulate building.

In an opinion piece, the Post's editorial board said what happened to Khashoggi's body remained "undisclosed".

The board accused the Saudi government and its “de facto accomplices" in the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump of remaining silent instead of clarifying the questions about the murder.

It said those behind the killing were hoping that "demands for accountability will fade away now that the story has been pushed from the front pages. That should not be allowed to happen".

According to Turkish officials, Khashoggi was attacked the moment he entered the consulate, his fingers were severed, and he was injected with a drug before being dismembered by an autopsy specialist who arrived in Istanbul with a bone saw, wrote the board.

"What the Turks still don’t know has been publicly voiced by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan: Where is Mr. Khashoggi’s body? And who ordered and oversaw this grisly operation?" it said.

"The Saudis know the answers to both those questions, and Mr. Trump might, too. Experts on Saudi Arabia are virtually unanimous in saying that such an audacious mission must have been known about, and most likely was ordered, by the kingdom’s de facto ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman," it said.

The board said that Congress should summon CIA Director Gina Haspel, who was in Turkey last week and briefed Trump, and other senior U.S. officials and determine what they know about the killing.

"Then it should take decisive action to impose sanctions on those responsible — including, if the available evidence points to him, Mohammed bin Salman — and reshape U.S. relations with Saudi Arabia," said the board.

Erdogan said 18 people arrested in Saudi Arabia for the killing should be extradited to Turkey to face trial, while Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir said the kingdom would try the suspects after an investigation is completed.