Jamal Khashoggi Was Already Married At The Time Of His Death, Egyptian ‘Wife’ Claims
Jamal Khashoggi may have already been married when he was murdered in the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul last month. The Washington Post reports that an Egyptian woman has come forward claiming to be the slain journalist’s wife.
As many media outlets have reported, Khashoggi was at the consulate that day to drop off paperwork which would allow him to marry his Turkish fiancee Hatice Cengiz. Cengiz told the Washington Post that she has never heard of Khashoggi’s alleged wife who is being identified as H.Atr to protect her identity.
“Jamal never told me about this woman,” Cengiz said.
“Why is she trying to change the picture people have of Jamal? What does she want? … I suspect that this is an attempt to discredit him and hurt his reputation.”
H. Atr, 50, claims that she and Khashoggi got married in June in Washington. She has supplied evidence of their relationship, text messages, and photos to the Post. There’s also someone who alleges that they attended the wedding and backs up her story. But the legal status of the purported marriage is fuzzy at this point because Atr does not have a marriage license.
If the legal status of the marriage is upheld, she could be entitled to any compensation that the Khashoggi family receives from the Saudi government. As for her motives for coming forward, she told the Washington Post that “as a Muslim wife, I want my full right and to be recognized.”
The State Department says the US has not drawn a final conclusion about who is responsible for Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi's death https://t.co/Qbc7hHC83H pic.twitter.com/rcFGk611cQ
— CNN Breaking News (@cnnbrk) November 17, 2018
Jamal Khashoggi’s murder has been at the center of tense diplomatic relations between the United States, Turkey, and Saudi Arabia for weeks.
President Donald Trump has so far declined to blame Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman for the killing.
“As of this moment, we were told he had not played a role,” the president said to reporters of bin Salman, as reported by ABC News.
According to ABC, the president received an update from the CIA on their investigation into Khashoggi’s death on Saturday, November 17
The Washington Post, the news outlet that employed Khashoggi, claims that the CIA has concluded that Mohammed bin Salman gave the order for his killing. Among the evidence that purportedly links bin Salman to the murder is a phone call his brother Khalid bin Salman made to Khashoggi before his death. During the call, Khalid reportedly told the deceased journalist that it would be safe for him to go to Istanbul to collect the document. According to the Washington Post, the CIA has determined that Mohammed bin Salman ordered his brother to make that call.
