Much has been said about the disappearance of Jamal Khashoggi. Mr. Khashoggi was a forceful critic of the Saudi government. He went missing after he entered the consulate in Istanbul. Turkish officials say they believe he was murdered there.
Khashoggi was a Saudi Arabian journalist and he was actually a legal US resident, and he wrote for the Washington Post opinion section. Now he entered the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on September the 28th, and then he disappeared. And Turkish government sources have told numerous outlets, including the New York Times, that they believe Khashoggi was killed in the consulate. They say he was dismembered and smuggled out piece by piece. The Saudi government meanwhile has maintained that Khashoggi left unharmed. And governments everywhere around the world are calling for an investigation into this. Khashoggi frequently criticized Saudi government in his newspaper columns and before his disappearance he was planning to turn his arguments into action. And he was actually working to launch a non-governmental organization, and it had the stated purpose of boosting democracy and human rights in the Arab world.
The group was called Democracy for the Arab World Now, or DAWN. It was incorporated in the state of Delaware as tax-exempt organization in January this year. According to a statement of core principles, the group aimed to provide a counter narrative in the Arab world and the west to Arab Spring skeptics. It’s members, also planned to advocate to corporate leaders, policy makers, journalists, and think tanks on behalf of democracy in Middle East. And it wanted to push for democratic change even if it ran counter to American foreign policy goals.
“Free and fair elections may result in some governments that are less favorable to US interests,” a statement from the group read. “Regardless, American must respect democratic processes. Victims of the Arab world’s authoritarian regimes seek leadership from the US and DAWN intends to provide such leadership.” Now all this documentation indicates Khashoggi was set to link DAWN and it aimed to gather Arab Spring exiles scattered in various world capitals and cities, and strengthen their morale and utilize them. It also planned to monitor the adherence of regional governments to democratic values and release a yearly report on it’s findings.
And that will give you some insights into why the Saudi government wanted to get rid of him. As I said, governments around the world are now calling for an investigation into this. All governments, except for Australia’s. Let’s watch this space.
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