Saudi Arabia finally let Khashoggi’s son leave — but only after U.S. pressure

The son of murdered journalist Jamal Khashoggi was allowed to leave Saudi Arabia after an intervention from Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, U.S. officials said Thursday.

Salah Khashoggi was reportedly subject to a travel ban by Riyadh — even though he holds dual U.S.-Saudi citizenship.

Khashoggi’s eldest son left the kingdom with his family Wednesday, Reuters reported — the day after he was photographed stone-faced while he shook the hand of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the man widely believed to have ordered the assassination of his father.

READ: A “body double” left the Saudi consulate wearing Khashoggi’s clothes

U.S. State Department spokesman Robert Palladino revealed Thursday that Pompeo had “made it clear” during a recent trip to Riyadh that the younger Khashoggi should be free to leave.

“We are pleased that he is now able to do so,” Palladino said, adding that the U.S. would continue to push for justice for the man’s father, who was killed in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on Oct. 2.

Salah Khashoggi’s release is one of the latest twists in the murder case of his father, a Washington Post columnist and a vocal critic of the Saudi regime.

• The Saudi public prosecutor said for the first time Thursday that Khashoggi’s killing was premeditated, citing new evidence from Turkey. The statement represented the latest shift in the Saudis’ official narrative around the death. Riyadh had initially denied any knowledge of Khashoggi’s fate, before claiming he had mistakenly been killed in a fistfight at the consulate.
• The Washington Post reported Wednesday that CIA Director Gina Haspel had been played recordings of the interrogation and murder of Khashoggi during her trip to Turkey this week. On Thursday, Haspel briefed President Donald Trump, whose statements on the case have shifted from describing the Saudi account as credible, to calling it “the worst cover-up ever.”
• Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan — who has been drip-feeding intelligence his government holds on the case — demanded Friday that the Saudi assassins reveal the location of the body. “It is clear that he has been killed, but where is it? You have to show the body,” he said, repeating demands for Riyadh to hand over the 18 suspects it says are responsible for the murder.

Cover image: Crown Prince and Defense Minister of Saudi Arabia Mohammad bin Salman al-Saud attends a signing ceremony hosted by Saudi Arabia's King for a peace agreement between Saudi Arabia, Ethiopia and Eritrea at Al-Salam Royal Palace in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia on September 16, 2018. (Bandar Algaloud / Saudi Kingdom Council / Handout/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)