Washington Post on missing Saudi journalist: ‘We demand to know the truth’

The Washington Post is demanding answers about missing Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi as Turkish authorities investigate his disappearance at a Saudi consulate.

“Seven days have passed since Jamal Khashoggi, a valued Washington Post contributor, entered the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul,” The Washington Post’s CEO and publisher Fred Ryan said in a statement released Tuesday.

“We have repeatedly asked the Saudi and Turkish governments for information about Jamal and his whereabouts but have not received any satisfactory answers,” Ryan said.{mosads}

“Instead, reports about Jamal’s fate have suggested he was a victim of state-sponsored, cold-blooded murder.”

As a part of their preliminary investigation, Turkish police have reported that Khashoggi was likely killed while in the consulate last Tuesday, though Saudi officials deny the assertion.

Khashoggi, a frequent critic of the Saudi government, was spotted entering the consulate in Istanbul last Tuesday but has not been seen since.

“For the sake of Jamal’s family we call again for answers about Jamal and his whereabouts,” Ryan said Tuesday. “Silence, denials and delays are not acceptable. We demand to know the truth.”

Turkish officials said in a statement Tuesday that they would search the consulate for Khashoggi, adding that Saudi authorities were “open to cooperation.”

The statement did not specify if a search had already occurred. The Saudi ambassador to the U.S. reportedly said Monday that a search had been done.

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman told Bloomberg in an interview published last Friday that Turkish investigators were welcome to search the consulate, saying Saudi officials had “nothing to hide.”

Several U.S. lawmakers including GOP Sens. Lindsey Graham (S.C.), Bob Corker (Tenn.) and Rand Paul (Ky.), have expressed worry about Khashoggi’s disappearance.

The United Nations and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo have both called for Saudi Arabia to support a full investigation into what happened to Khashoggi.