Slain journalist Jamal Khashoggi’s sons pleaded for the return of their father’s body a month after he was reported missing in Turkey.
Salah and Abdullah Khashoggi praised their father as “courageous, generous and very brave,” according to an exclusive interview with CNN released Monday. Abdullah Khashoggi described how his father would keep a photo of his grandchildren by his bed so they were the last things he would see at night.
“I really hope that whatever happened wasn’t painful for him, or it was quick. Or he had a peaceful death,” Abdullah Khashoggi, 33, told CNN.
While the pain of losing their father is worsened by the “puzzle” surrounding his death, they said, they want nothing more than to bury their father.
“We just need to make sure he rests in peace,” Salah Khashoggi, 35, said. “I talked about that with the Saudi authorities. I just hope that it happens soon.”
Salah Khashoggi explained that he continues to hope his father’s body will be returned because of how important it is to the Islamic religion.
SEE ALSO: Turkey: Saudi investigators worked to remove evidence
“It’s not only Islamic [tradition], it’s basic humanitarian issue,” Salah Khashoggi said.
Jamal Khashoggi was last seen alive entering the Saudi Consulate in Turkey on Oct. 2. Turkey officials say that he was strangled and dismembered as part of a premeditated plot that many suspect Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to be behind.
The Saudi government admitted The Washington Post writer was killed inside the consulate, but the story has shifted as more details from Turkey’s investigation into the matter have come forward.
On Monday, The Associated Press reported that Turkish officials believe the Saudi government took steps to destroy evidence of the slaying. The report noted one theory from an unnamed senior official that suggested Mr. Khashoggi’s body was also destroyed.
• Gabriella Muñoz can be reached at gmunoz@washingtontimes.com.
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