Saudis banned Khashoggi for criticizing Trump - Report

By Servet Gunerigok

WASHINGTON (AA) - Slain journalist Jamal Khashoggi was barred from media appearances after criticizing U.S. President Donald Trump in late 2016, according to the State Department.

In its most recent report on Saudi Arabia’s human rights record, the department said Khashoggi moved to the U.S. in "self-exile" in September 2017 and "could face arrest upon returning home" due to his writings.

The report said Khashoggi's column in Saudi newspaper al-Hayat had been cancelled under political pressure.

“In 2016, authorities purportedly banned him from writing, appearing on television and attending conferences as the result of remarks he made that were interpreted as criticizing the president of the United States, according to multiple media sources.

"Earlier, in July, authorities reportedly lifted the writing ban against him," said the report.

The ban came after Khashoggi appeared at a policy forum at think tank The Washington Institute on Nov. 10, 2016 and made remarks critical of Trump’s Middle East policies, describing Trump's stance on the Middle East as "contradictory".

Khashoggi, a Saudi journalist and columnist for The Washington Post, went missing after entering the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul on Oct. 2.

After initially saying he left the consulate alive, the Saudi administration admitted weeks later that he was killed there.

His body has yet to be returned to his family amid reports that it was chemically dissolved.

In a statement Tuesday, Trump defended relations with Saudi Arabia despite the killing of the journalist amid reports that the CIA had concluded with high confidence that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman ordered Khashoggi's murder.

However, the president said the U.S. may "never know all of the facts" and the country will continue its relations with Saudi Arabia in order to pursue American interests.

"Our intelligence agencies continue to assess all information, but it could very well be that the Crown Prince had knowledge of this tragic event – maybe he did and maybe he didn’t!" Trump said in the statement, which was released by the White House.