Washington (AP) – A month earlier President Joe Biden’s visit to the Saudi Arabia District of Columbia crossed the Saudi Embassy Jamal Khashoggi Road, thus touring Riyadh in 2018 for his role in the murder of an activist and dissident Saudi journalist.
Along with DC Council members, a Jamal Khashoggi street sign was displayed in front of the main entrance to the embassy.
“We will remind the people hiding behind these doors … that we take responsibility and we hold them accountable for the murder of our friend,” said Sarah Leah Whitson, executive director of DAWN, a pro-Arab world. Democratic organization founded by Khashoggi before his death.
Witson also criticized the Biden administration’s “shameless surrender” for improving relations with the Saudi government and planning the president’s official visit to the kingdom.
Khashoggi, a well -known Saudi journalist and Washington Post columnist, entered the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on October 2, 2018, looking for the necessary documentation for a planned wedding outside of his girlfriend, who was waiting for him outside. The 59-year-old never showed up.
The Saudi Arabian government has previously denied any wrongdoing. But under rising international pressure, Riyadh finally admitted that Khashoggi had been killed at the consulate, which Saudi Arabia described as a failed repatriation attempt. The CIA released a report concluding that Khashoggi was killed and dismembered by order of Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
The Saudi regime continues to deny this connection. Several low -ranking Saudi officials and agents were sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder.
The DC Council at the end of last year unanimously supported the renaming of a Khashoggi section to a single block.
“I’m very proud that I did it,” said DC Mendelssohn, chairman of the DC Council. “The Saudi Arabian government will never forget what happened and what it did. This is a constant reminder. “
The name change is ceremonial, as indicated by the brown road sign, rather than the usual green, and will not affect the embassy’s mailing address. But the sign remains uncertain. The e-mail sent by the Saudi embassy has not yet been answered.
Khashoggi’s Turkish bride Hatice Cengiz was unable to attend the ceremony, but her statement was read aloud.
Here, he violently criticized the Biden administration for “putting oil on principles and comfort on principles”.
Genghis also directly asked Biden when he met the Crown Prince: “Can you still ask, where is Jamal’s corpse?”
White House spokeswoman Carine Jean Pierre would not say whether Biden would raise the issue of Khashoggi’s murder when he met Bin Salman next month.
“The president is a direct shooter.” That’s not what he’s afraid to talk about, ”he said.But he didn’t confirm whether murder would be the topic of conversation.
The DC government has a history of similar public measures to trample or embarrass foreign governments. In February 2018, the Street in front of the Russian Embassy was renamed Boris Nemtsov Square after a Russian activist was killed in 2015 while walking on a bridge near the Kremlin.
Opposite the Russian embassy, the street is named after a longtime dissident of Russia, Andrei Sakharov.
The street renaming on Wednesday was essentially the formalization of a campaign focused on independent activists that has been going on for years. Shortly after Khashoggi’s death, local activist Claude Taylor began lining up Realistic Looking Jamal Khashogi Street Signs Around town, even outside the embassy. Taylor said he had about 10 brands in different locations at one point, including a Dupont circle that took two years before being vandalized.
“It’s just a form of public protest in terms of the performing arts,” Taylor said.
Although he laughed when he wasn’t invited to the ceremony on Wednesday, Taylor said, “I’m glad the city did the right thing and I’m glad I met it that way.”
Associated Press writer Chris Megerian contributed to this report.
Source: Huffpost
I am David Wyatt, a professional writer and journalist for Buna Times. I specialize in the world section of news coverage, where I bring to light stories and issues that affect us globally. As a graduate of Journalism, I have always had the passion to spread knowledge through writing.