Salah and Abdullah Khashoggi, the sons of the murdered Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, called on Sunday for the return of their father’s remains to be buried in Saudi Arabia.
In their first interview since they left the kingdom last week, they said in an interview with CNN that “All what we want right now is to bury him in Al-Baqi [cemetery] in Medina with the rest of his family.”
Salah, the older son of Khashoggi, said during the interview that has talked about the return of his father’s remains with the Saudi authorities. He expressed hope that his demands would be met soon.
Jamal Khashoggi, a prominent Saudi journalist, was killed in his country’s consulate in the Turkish city of Istanbul on 2 October. He was also a columnist at the Washington Post.
Saudi officials including Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, had previously denied Khashoggi had been killed and dismembered inside the diplomatic facility. But soon, Riyadh has come with a new narrative saying that a team of 15 members of the security and the intelligence forces killed him.
“The [Saudi] King has stressed that everybody involved will be brought to justice. And I have faith in that. This will happen. Otherwise Saudi wouldn’t have started an internal investigation,” Salah said.
“I really hope that whatever happened wasn’t painful for him, or it was quick. Or he had a peaceful death,” Abdullah Khashoggi said.
Before their leave to Washington, Salah and Abdullah were received by King Salman bin Al-Aziz and his Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. The visit was for the Saudi rulers to offer condolences to Khashoggi’s family.
Controversy was aroused around Salah’s photo with Bin Salman which had sharp reactions from the first. But during the interview, he said that the photo was misinterpreted.
