Saudi Arabia: a kingdom in the dock | Financial Times:
Jamal Khashoggi was anxious the morning he disappeared. The writer, for years seen as close to the Saudi Arabia government, had grown critical of the Gulf kingdom and had lived in self-imposed exile in the US for more than a year. He had berated Mohammed bin Salman, the crown prince, for waging a bloody war in Yemen and executing a ruthless crackdown on dissent at home.
The 59-year-old journalist had been spending time in Turkey after falling in love with Hatice Cengiz, a Turkish PhD student. He was visiting the Saudi consulate in Istanbul to collect official papers for their impending marriage.
Over breakfast Mr Khashoggi said he did not believe that the Saudi authorities would dare do anything to him on Turkish soil. But the couple also discussed the possibility that officials could make things difficult. “He didn’t want to go,” Ms Cengiz says. “He was nervous that something could happen.”
