UK: Amnesty places Khashoggi sign outside Saudi embassy

By Ahmet Gurhan Kartal

LONDON

The Amnesty International on Friday placed a mock "Khashoggi Street" sign outside the Saudi Embassy in London in an attempt to draw attention to the brutal killing of the journalist.

Jamal Khashoggi, a columnist for the Washington Post, went missing on Oct. 2 after he entered the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul. After denying to know his whereabouts for several days, the Saudi government claimed the journalist was killed inside the consulate in a "rogue operation". They have yet to produce his body.

In a statement, the London-based human rights watchdog said: “A mock 'Khashoggi Street' sign was erected near the gates of the Saudi embassy, exactly one month after CCTV cameras last recorded the journalist entering the consulate building in Istanbul."

Amnesty also urged for a UN investigation into the killing.

“The whole world has been shocked by this grotesque killing, and it’s vital that we don’t let the outrage fade away without justice being done," said Kate Allen, U.K. director of Amnesty International.

“We need to see Jamal Khashoggi’s killers brought to justice -- not only those who actually carried out the but those who ordered it and knew it was about to happen.

“Contrary to claims made by the Saudi Crown Prince and others, Saudi Arabia hasn’t been ‘reforming’, it’s been rounding up critics and activists in a brutal human rights crackdown.

“One thing Britain urgently needs to do is halt all further arms sales to Arabia and other members of the military coalition in Yemen,” she said in a statement.

Commenting on the Saudi-led war in Yemen, Amnesty said in the past three-and-a-half years "numerous coalition bombs and missiles have struck Yemeni hospitals, food depots, marketplaces, civilian buses, factories funeral halls.”

“The UN assesses that the 'majority' of the thousands of Yemeni civilian deaths are a direct result of this aerial barrage, while thousands more have been injured.

“Meanwhile, armed Houthi opposition groups have also indiscriminately shelled residential areas of towns and cities,” it said.