The mysterious disappearance of Mr. Khashoggi

Jamal Khashoggi was last seen entering the Saudi consulate on October 2 at approximately 1:14 p.m. The contributor to the Washington Post had an appointment at this particular consulate in Istanbul in order to collect documents that will allow him to marry his Turkish fiancée. He was to receive a certificate showing that he was indeed divorced from his first wife. Khashoggi was never seen or heard from after entering the consulate. Numerous news outlets are claiming that Khashoggi, the former editor of a Saudi newspaper, regime critic, and Washington Post contributor, was murdered.

At the moment, the Saudi consulate states that Khashoggi left the consulate around an hour after his arrival. Some news outlets have provided further implications relating not only to murder but to possible dismemberment in the diplomatic facility. President Trump weighed in on the issue stating that it was “a very sad situation; it’s a very bad situation. We cannot let this happen, to reporters, to anybody.” Unfortunately, it looks as if the Saudi crown prince Mohammad bin Salman knew of this event. Additionally, it seems that bin Salman was at the helm of the kidnapping and murder of Khashoggi.

However, it seems that bin Salman has been open to reform in his hermitage. Thus far he has allowed women to drive and permitted movie theaters to conduct business in his country. Nothing to write home about; however, these changes are indicators of improvement. bin Salman has nodded toward improving conditions, definitely. However, he has not scaled back his assault on his vocal critics at home and abroad. In fact, it seems that the arrests and convictions of protestors have increased in number. For example, after receiving a critical tweet from Canada’s Foreign Minister aimed at his handling of two dissidents, the Saudi crown prince cut all ties with Canada, ordered all Saudi students home from Canadian universities and expelled the ambassador.

Clearly, the prince has a past of conflict with his critics, and Khashoggi was not exempt from this list. If the video surveillance was not enough evidence against bin Salman, the Washington Post has presented intelligence intercepts that reveal that the crown prince was the head architect of this plan to lure Khashoggi back to Saudi Arabia and detain him. Was this a kidnapping turned sour? Or was the twist a part of the plan?