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Rabat – Jamal Khashoggi’s widow has urged UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer to raise her husband’s murder at his meeting with Saudi Arabia’s crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, according to reports.
The prime minister is arriving in Saudi Arabia this morning as part of a two-day trip to the Middle East.
Hanan Elatr Khashoggi told The Guardian she is urging Starmer to ask: “What happened? Where is the justice for Jamal Khashoggi?”
“We look here to your country, to the UK and to the US and most western countries, with respect because you have justice and you care for democratic and human rights. Forgetting Jamal’s case does not align with the values of justice and democratic and human rights in your country,” she added.
Human rights activists are also asking the prime minister to speak about Saudi Arabia’s alarming death penalty record. Since 2024, the country has executed 300 people – the highest in a single year.
Jamal Khashoggi was a Saudi journalist. He used to write for The Washington Post and often gave too much flak to Saudi strongmen.
He was murdered on October 2, 2018, inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul after he went there to get some paperwork for his wedding with Hanan Elatr Khashoggi. He never came out.
Reports say a team of Saudi operatives set up a trap. Turkish officials claimed he was strangled shortly after entering and then his body was chopped up.
His dismembered body has never been found, and Turkish authorities say it might have been dissolved in acid.
Turkish authorities shared audio recordings said to be from inside the consulate.
US intelligence later concluded that Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman sanctioned the murder.
Saudi Arabia admitted it was planned but said that MBS wasn’t involved. Five men were sentenced to death, though their punishments were later reduced. Critics called the subsequent trial a mere cover-up.
Hanan Elatr Khashoggi’s plea to the UK prime minister is bringing this tragedy again to light, as the widow – and the world – continue to demand answers and justice.
