US asks Turkey for recording evidence

International Desk: The US has asked Turkey for a recording said to provide strong evidence that Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi was killed at Istanbul's Saudi consulate.

"We have asked for it, if it exists," President Donald Trump told reporters at the White House.

Mr Khashoggi has not been seen since entering the building on 2 October. Saudi Arabia denies killing him.

Meanwhile, the Washington Post has published the last column Mr Khashoggi wrote before his disappearance.

In the column he talks about the importance of a free press in the Middle East.

The newspaper's Global Opinions editor Karen Attiah said its release had been delayed in the hope that Mr Khashoggi would return safely.

"Now I have to accept: That is not going to happen. This is the last piece of his I will edit for The Post," she wrote. "This column perfectly captures his commitment and passion for freedom in the Arab world. A freedom he apparently gave his life for."

Mr Khashoggi presented a strong criticism of the state of press freedoms in the Arab world: "The Arab world is facing its own version of an Iron Curtain, imposed not by external actors but through domestic forces vying for power.

"The Arab world needs a modern version of the old transnational media so citizens can be informed about global events. More important, we need to provide a platform for Arab voices."

He mentioned the case of his fellow Saudi writer, Saleh al-Shehi, who he said "is now serving an unwarranted five-year prison sentence for supposed comments contrary to the Saudi establishment".

"Such actions no longer carry the consequence of a backlash from the international community," he wrote. "Instead, these actions may trigger condemnation quickly followed by silence."

Source: BBC


risingbd/Oct 18, 2018/Mukul