Saudi King Salman silent on Khashoggi in annual Shura address

King Salman presents Saudi policies amid renewed calls from US Congress for condemnation over Khashoggi’s murder. Saudi Arabia’s King Salman bin Abdulaziz has addressed the kingdom’s Shura Council but refrained from mentioning the case of murdered Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi. In a highly anticipated address to the council, the 82-year-old monarch on Monday lauded his country’s judiciary and public prosecution for “carrying out their duty in the service of justice”, without directly invoking the killing of the Washington Post columnist. Khashoggi - a critic of the powerful Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, also known as MBS - was killed in the kingdom’s consulate in Istanbul on October 2. Last week, Saudi prosecutors announced they would push for the death penalty for five suspects in connection with the murder of Khashoggi. The king’s speech came as members of the US Congress renewed their calls to condemn the kingdom following a reported assessment by the CIA that MBS personally ordered Khashoggi’s murder.