BEIRUT (AP) - An influential voice on Saudi affairs has been silenced forever as Saudi Arabia admits Jamal Khashoggi was killed inside its consulate in Istanbul more than two weeks ago.
Khashoggi was a Washington Post columnist who was once close to the Saudi royal family and an adviser to the former intelligence chief. But he became a sharp critic of its young and ambitious crown prince for cracking down on opposition and miring the country in a conflict in Yemen.
His disappearance and death ignited a diplomatic firestorm, shook Saudi Arabia’s alliances and brought calls for sanctions against the oil-rich kingdom.
In a final column for the Post, Khashoggi warned that governments in the Middle East “have been given free rein to continue silencing the media at an increasing rate.”
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