Absentee funeral prayer held in Istanbul for Khashoggi

By Ahmet Salih Alacaci

ANKARA (AA) - A funeral prayer in absentia for slain Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi was held in Istanbul's Fatih Mosque on Friday.

The ceremony was widely attended by activists and political figures calling for unity and justice for the journalist.

Khashoggi, a frequent contributor to The Washington Post, was killed Oct. 2 inside the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul.

After weeks of denying any involvement in the crime, Saudi Arabia later admitted that Khashoggi had been killed inside the consulate but claimed the Saudi royal family had no prior knowledge of any plot to murder the journalist.

His body has yet to be returned to his family, which has been requesting its return, amid reports that it was chemically dissolved.