The widow of Jamal Khashoggi, the Washington Publish columnist killed by Saudi operatives on the kingdom’s consulate in Istanbul in 2018, was granted political asylum late final month, greater than three years after she fled to the US.
“I really feel nice and that I’ve taken the proper determination to come back to this nation,” his widow, Hanan Elatr Khashoggi, stated in an interview. “I can really feel extra protected now that I’m not afraid to be handed over to any dictator within the Center East.”
Ms. Khashoggi, who was born in Egypt and married Mr. Khashoggi in 2018, fled from the United Arab Emirates to the US in July 2020.
Her profitable petition for asylum is among the few latest reminders of the fallout from the killing, which drew international outrage and strained ties between the US and Saudi Arabia however by no means led to a everlasting rupture. These near Mr. Khashoggi have continued to push for penalties on these they consider performed a task, whilst relations between the dominion and the US have began to rebound.
Ms. Khashoggi, whose profitable petition was reported earlier by The Post, utilized for political asylum in August 2020, saying she feared for her security outdoors the US. Ms. Khashoggi stated she had been on the receiving finish of threats and intimidation, was below surveillance and had been put below home arrest twice within the United Arab Emirates as a result of she was near Mr. Khashoggi.
The assassination of Mr. Khashoggi, a authorized everlasting resident of Virginia who was important of the Saudi authorities in his columns, was accepted by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the de facto Saudi ruler, in accordance with an intelligence report launched by the Biden administration in 2021.
The administration took no direct action in opposition to Prince Mohammed after releasing the report, as an alternative saying journey and monetary sanctions on different Saudis concerned within the killing and on members of the elite unit of the Royal Guard that protects the crown prince. The administration concluded it couldn’t danger a full rupture of its relationship with the dominion. Mr. Biden, who as a candidate vowed to make Saudi Arabia a “pariah” for ordering the killing, stated he brought up the murder when he met with Prince Mohammed as president.
“No one feels there was justice for Jamal in something that was performed over the previous 5 years,” stated Randa Fahmy, Ms. Khashoggi’s lawyer. She added that her shopper’s petition for asylum had been delayed for months with out rationalization, even with a number of lawmakers advocating on her behalf.
“Hanan Khashoggi has the clearest case for political asylum conceivable, and I’m completely happy that I might assist her get this very important safety,” stated Consultant Donald S. Beyer Jr., Democrat of Virginia, one of many lawmakers who supported her declare, in a press release. “In spite of everything that she and her household have been by means of, it’s good to see them granted this recognition and the measure of safety that can include it.”
Ms. Khashoggi filed swimsuit in U.S. District Court docket in Alexandria, Va., in opposition to NSO Group, the Israeli maker of a adware program referred to as Pegasus that she stated had been put in onto her telephone earlier than she married Mr. Khashoggi. NSO Group has denied that its instruments have been concerned in Mr. Khashoggi’s homicide. The lawsuit was dismissed in October, however Ms. Fahmy stated Ms. Khashoggi was interesting.
Ms. Khashoggi stated she was additionally targeted on retrieving Mr. Khashoggi’s private results from Turkey and receiving monetary compensation from Saudi Arabia. Whereas the dominion has paid Mr. Khashoggi’s 4 grownup youngsters tens of thousands of dollars and millions in real estate in compensation, Ms. Khashoggi stated she had not obtained any compensation.
“They owe that to Ms. Khashoggi,” Ms. Fahmy stated.
Ms. Fahmy and Ms. Khashoggi are additionally attempting to hunt refuge in the US for her members of the family who stay within the Center East and have additionally confronted threats.