EU pays tribute to Saudi journalist Khashoggi on anniversary of killing - by Toga Bozoglu

The European Union paid tribute on 2 October to the memory of Jamal Khashoggi, a Saudi journalist who was murdered last year in the premises of the Consulate General of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in Istanbul.

The EU reiterated in a statement the need to ensure full accountability for those responsible and insisted on an investigation of the circumstances of the killing.

“Jamal Khashoggi continues to be an inspiration to journalists and associates with whom he was in contact for his work, including colleagues in the EU institutions.”

“As Jamal Khashoggi, journalists are too often the target of attacks in many countries.

 On this occasion, the European Union reaffirms its unequivocal commitment to the freedom of the press and the protection of journalists across the world.”, the statement reads.

Note-EU-Digest: Kudos to the Government of Turkey, for renaming a street near the former Saudi Consulate General offices in Istanbul, "the Khashoggi street", and allowing Jeff Bezos, Founder of Amazon, and owner of the Washington Post, where Khashoggi worked, to unveil a memorial to the murdered journalist today, the first anniversary of the journalist's death. 

The US remains the number one exporter of arms to Saudi Arabia and the world. Earlier in the year, Trump rebuffed bi-partisan US congressional efforts to punish Saudi Arabia for the killing of columnist Jamal Khashoggi , and turned back criticism over the kingdom’s prosecution of its war against Houthi rebels in Yemen.

EU pays tribute to Saudi journalist Khashoggi on anniversary of killing | New Europe

Time Magazine Person of the year Award: : Khashoggi,murdered by Saudi Arabia and jailed journalists named Time's 'Person of the Year'

Time magazine on Tuesday named a group of journalists, including a slain Saudi Arabian writer and a pair of Reuters journalists imprisoned by Myanmar’s government, as its “Person of the Year,” in a cover story headlined “The Guardians and the War on Truth.”

The honor went to a series of journalists including Reuters journalists Wa Lone, 32, and Kyaw Soe Oo, 28, who the government of Myanmar convicted on Sept. 3 under the colonial-era Official Secrets Act in a case seen as a test of democratic freedoms in Myanmar.

Also honored was Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, a critic of Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. Khashoggi was killed two months ago at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul when he went there to collect documents for his forthcoming marriage.

The 95-year-old magazine also honored Maria Ressa, the founder of the Philippine news site Rappler that has been a frequent critic of that nation’s President Rodrigo Duterte, and the staff of the Capital Gazette newspaper in Annapolis, Maryland, where a gunman shot and killed five people in June.

Time said it chose to honor journalism at time when the practice critical democracy is under threat both from governments and technological advances. Its annual distinction is intended to recognize the person, group, thing or idea that had the greatest influence on world events that year.

Read more: Khashoggi, jailed journalists named Time's 'Person of the Year'

Saudi Arabia: Key Republicans say Saudi crown prince is guilty in Khashoggi murder following CIA Briefing - by Heather Timmons

Republican senators briefed by Central Intelligence Agency director Gina Haspel about the death of journalist Jamal Khashoggi Tuesday (Dec. 4) had an immediate reaction: Saudi crown prince Mohammad bin Salman is guilty.

Lindsey Graham, the South Carolina senator who has been a loyal supporter of Donald Trump in recent months, told reporters on Capitol Hill there’s no “smoking gun,” in the case, but  a “smoking saw,” a reference to the bone saw that the crown prince’s underlings reportedly brought with them into the Istanbul embassy where Khashoggi was killed on Oct. 2.

Bob Corker, the retiring Tennessee Republican, said a jury would find the crown prince guilty in minutes.

And Richard Shelby, the Republican from Alabama, said “all evidence points to that all this leads back to the crown prince.” Haspel briefed senators heading committees related to national security; late last month she briefed intelligence committees in the House and Senate about Khashoggi’s death.

Note EU-Digest: Talk is easy for these Republicans - but they should stop sitting on their hands and do something about it.
 

Read more: Key Republicans say Saudi crown prince is guilty in Khashoggi murder — Quartz

Saudi Arabia Murder G20 : Macron to meet with Crown Prince at G20 to get more information on Prince's involvement

Macron to meet Saudi crown prince despite Khashoggi uproar French President Emmanuel Macron will meet with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on the sidelines of a G20 meeting in Argentina in 

what would be a first meeting with a Western leader since the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

Read more at:

http://www.france24.com/en/20181129-macron-meet-saudi-crown-prince-mbs-khashoggi-g20-argentina-france

The Israel - Saudi - US Alliance: Saudi Arabia hosts rare visit of U.S. Evangelical Christian figures - Stephen Kali

 Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman held a rare meeting with American evangelical Christians on Thursday, as the ultra-conservative Muslim kingdom seeks to open up more to the world and repair an image of religious intolerance.

The delegation was led by communications strategist Joel Rosenberg and included former U.S. congresswoman Michele Bachmann, according to an emailed statement by the group, as well as heads of American evangelical organizations, some with ties to Israel.

"It was a historic moment for the Saudi Crown Prince to openly welcome Evangelical Christian leaders to the Palace. We were encouraged by the candor of the two-hour conversation with him today," the statement said.

A visit by such prominent non-Muslim leaders, who estimate they represent about 60 million people, is a rare act of religious openness for Saudi Arabia, which hosts the holiest sites in Islam and bans the practice of other religions.

Some of the figures' support for Israel, which the kingdom does not recognize, is also striking. For instance, Mike Evans, founder of the Jerusalem Prayer Team, describes himself on his website as "a devout American-Christian Zionist leader".

Saudi Arabia has maintained for years that normalizing relations with Israel hinges on its withdrawal from Arab lands captured in the 1967 Middle East war - territory Palestinians seek for a future state.

But increased tension between Tehran and Riyadh has fueled speculation that shared interests may push Saudi Arabia and Israel to work together against what they regard as a common Iranian threat.

Prince Mohammed, who in recent years has loosened strict social rules and arrested Saudi clerics deemed extremists, said in April that Israelis are entitled to live peacefully on their own land. A month earlier, Saudi Arabia opened its air space for the first time to a commercial flight to Israel.

Several members of the delegation, which met with Abu Dhabi's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed in the United Arab Emirates earlier in the week, have also advised U.S. President Donald Trump on faith issues.

Note EU-Digest: It is amazing to see how American Evangelicals - who are a solid political support group for the US Republicans - have walked into this trap, set-up by the Trump Administration, as they, together with their allies, Israel and Saudi Arabia, seem to be preparing for an attack on Iran.

 

Given the uproar such an attack would cause in America, and around the world, this visit by American Evangelicals to Saudi Arabia can only be described as an effort to appease the Evangelicals as to the "good intentions" of the Saudi's. 

 

Unbelievable, is also the timing of this Evangelical delegation's visit to Saudi Arabia, which coincides with the investigations going on as to the horrendous murder at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, on the 2nd of October, of the Washington Post Journalist Jamal Khashoggi, and the daily changing and confusing explanations about this murder, given by the Saudi Monarch. 

 

This by itself should have been a major reason for the Evangelicals not to visit Saudi Arabia.

 

Read more: Saudi Arabia hosts rare visit of U.S. evangelical Christian figures