Dead Men Tell No Tales

Did Jamal Khashoggi pay with his life for championing Islamic democracy?

- M.K. Bhadrakumar

AFTER MEANDERING in a swelter of high drama for almost a month, the curious case of journalist Jamal Khashoggi’s murder on October 2 in Istanbul is heading for a tame denouement. The heart of the matter is that Saudi Arabia is far too wealthy and important as an oil producing country and as leader of the Muslim world that no one wants to antagonise it, or destabilise it.

As speculation rose to a crescendo, there was heightened interest about a speech in the Turkish parliament that President Recep Tayyip Erdogan promised to make on October 23, where he promised to disclose the “naked truth” about the murder. Yet the platter he served had a bit of many things, but nothing definitive. Erdogan’s message to the Saudis was something like this: ‘I am not buying your story, try again; this was a pre-meditated murder and so, who ordered it?’

Turkey appears to have had its say, and Saudi Arabia is keen to seize the initiative. In the run up to Erdogan’s speech, he had spoken twice with King Salman of Saudi Arabia and also with President Donald Trump. A Turkish readout said, “Erdogan and Trump agreed the Khashoggi case needs to be cleared up with all aspects.” On the day before Erdogan spoke, CIA Director Gina Haspel flew into Turkey to meet the high officials and “assess the strength of the evidence that Turkish officials have”.