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Prominent Saudi journalist and Washington To post the columnist Jamal Khashoggi mysteriously disappeared at the beginning of the week and has not been heard since Tuesday, according to the daily newspaper To post.
Khashoggi was last seen in the Saudi Arabian consulate in Istanbul for documents about his upcoming marriage, his fiancée told the newspaper. To post. Saudi Arabia has denied arresting him.
On Wednesday, while Khashoggi's prolonged absence raised fears of his incommunicado detention, the Turkish Foreign Ministry summoned the Saudi ambassador to ask him where the journalist, known for his criticism of the Saudi rulers, was.
"It would be unfair and outrageous if he was detained for his work as a journalist and commentator," said the president. To post said in a statement. "We hope that he is safe and that we will be able to hear him soon."
The State Department also asked for information on the disappearance of Khashoggi.
No sign of Khashoggi coming, the To post published an empty space where his column would have appeared in the print edition of Friday.
As the mystery deepens, here's what you need to know.
When did he disappear?
Khashoggi visited the consulate of Saudi Arabia around 1 pm Tuesday to retrieve the marriage documents, according to the To post. His fiancee, a Turkish national, called the police at the closing of the consulate. Khashoggi had not re-emerged.
Turkey claimed to believe that Khashoggi was still inside the consulate. Saudi officials say the opposite.
Khashoggi, 59, is one of the best-known political journalists and commentators in the Arab world. He has been living in voluntary exile in the United States since he fled to Saudi Arabia last year. Like a To post He has often covered the repressive tactics of the Saudi regime and particularly criticized Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, a so-called reformer who arrested rivals and dissidents.
What did Saudi Arabia say?
In a statement, the Saudi consulate said it was cooperating with the Turkish authorities to "discover the circumstances" of Khashoggi's "disappearance".
Khashoggi's fiancee disputes this story. "If it was true, where is it? … I went home and I did not find it, "she told Reuters. "Where is Jamal?"
The Consulate of Saudi Arabia in Istanbul, Turkey, seen October 3, 2018.
Ozan Kose – AFP / Getty Images
The State Department stated that he "followed closely" the case. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo met with Mohammed bin Salman on Wednesday, but a reading did not mention Khashoggi.
Call for clarity
Human rights organizations are asking Saudi Arabia to clarify Khashoggi's whereabouts. The Committee for the Protection of Journalists described Khashoggi's disappearance as a "cause of alarm".
"If the Saudi authorities surreptitiously arrest Khashoggi, the reign of Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman's repression of dissidents and peaceful critics would be a new escalation," said Sarah Leah Whitson, Human Rights Watch's Middle East director. "The burden of proof is on Saudi Arabia, which has to prove that Khashoggi left the consulate alone and that Saudi agents did not arrest him."
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