Khashoggi family denies issuing statement
‘We refuse the exploitation of our name to target Saudi Arabia’
Dubai: The family of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi on Tuesday said that they rejected all attempts to use its name to attack Saudi Arabia and target its reputation.
“The men and women of the Khashoggi family are all loyal to the country and utterly refuse to use or exploit the name of the family in an agenda seeking to harm Saudi Arabia,” Sultan, Jamal’s son, posted on his Twitter account.
The tweet was posted in denial to a fake statement that is being reported by media.
The made up statment attributed to Khashoggi family called for an “international investigation” into his “death”.
"The strong moral and legal responsibility which our father instilled in us obliges us to call for the establishment of an independent and impartial international commission to inquire into the circumstances of his death," the statement read.
Earlier Mutasim Khashoggi, Jamal's cousin, headed a family meeting in Jeddah, days after Jamal disappearance, came out with a statement after that meeting saying: "Our position as a family is that Jamal is missing," adding that "Salah Jamal Khashoggi, and myself, are the authorized members of the family to issue any statement."
Salah Khashoggi, the eldest son of Jamal Khashoggi, in an interview with Al Arabiya last week, has denounced attempts by foreign parties to politicize the disappearance of his father, which he called totally unacceptable.
Salah said: “The issue is that there is a Saudi citizen who has gone missing. We are cooperating with the Saudi authorities to uncover the circumstances,” Salah said confirming that the Saudi government responded immediately to the reports.
Salah Khashoggi confirmed that all members of his family support the official Saudi investigations, which only “will lead us to positive results and uncover the truth.”
A joint Saudi Turkish team has been formed last week to probe the death of the Saudi citizen, who was last seen in public on October 2.
The team on Monday evening spent around nine hours the Saudi consulate in Istanbul searching for clues that could help understand the mystery about his disappearance.