Jamal Khashoggi’s son says family ‘forgives’ Saudi killers

THE SON of Jamal Khashoggi announced yesterday that his family had forgiven his killers, in a surprise gesture that activists believe was secured by multimillion-pound payouts and intense pressure from the Saudi authorities.

Citing religious reasoning, Salah Khashoggi wrote in a statement: “We, sons of the martyr Jamal Khashoggi, announce that we forgive those who killed our father.”

Jamal Khashoggi, a columnist for the Washington Post, was kidnapped, killed and dismembered by Saudi agents in October 2018 when he visited the Saudi embassy in Istanbul to obtain paperwork to marry his fiancée.

It has been alleged that Mohammed bin Salman, the Crown Prince and de facto ruler of Saudi Arabia, had personally ordered his assassination, something he has vehemently denied, saying the murder was carried out by rogue agents without his knowledge. Saudi activists claimed that the family’s decision came after pressure from the Saudi authorities, who they believe are paying vast sums of compensation to the family each month.

“They are completely under the hand of MBS,” claimed Alia Abu Tayeh Al-huwaiti, the exiled, London-based Saudi activist, referring to the Crown Prince by his initials. “They are terrified of the government and will say whatever he wants them to.”

It is understood that the four Khashoggi children are receiving monthly payments of more than 30,000 Saudi riyals (£6,500) in “blood money”, and have each been given properties worth at least £3million.

But activists said the family had little choice but to accept the money and follow the Saudi authorities’ instructions, or face adverse consequences.

Khashoggi’s Turkish fiancée, Hatice Cengiz, insisted that “no one has the right to pardon his killers”.

Salah Khashoggi’s decision to pardon his father’s five convicted killers, who have not been named, may lead to their death sentences being commuted.