Jamal Khashoggi’s widow has urged Keir Starmer to raise her husband’s murder at his meeting with the Saudi Arabia’s crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman.
Starmer will arrive in Saudi Arabia on Monday for talks with the Saudi crown prince as part of a two-day trip to the Middle East, his first to the region as prime minister.
Hanan Elatr Khashoggi said it was incumbent on the UK to raise the case of her husband, who was killed inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in 2018.
Khashoggi was a Saudi journalist who was critical of the Saudi government and wrote a column for the Washington Post. US intelligence believes Prince Mohammed directly ordered his murder, which the kingdom strenuously denies.
Hanan Elatr Khashoggi said that during his visit to Saudi Arabia, Starmer should ask: “What happened? Where is the justice for Jamal Khashoggi?”
She added: “We look here to your country, to the UK and to the US and most western countries, with respect because you have justice and you care for democratic and human rights. Forgetting Jamal’s case does not align with the values of justice and democratic and human rights in your country.”
Khashoggi’s widow, who lives in the US after being granted political asylum, said that despite the trial and sentencing of eight people accused of involvement in her husband’s murder, she had received no apology or compensation from the kingdom.
“I hope my husband’s case has not been forgotten, and I will always maintain to make sure it is not forgotten,” she said. “There is unfinished business here. There has to be justice for Jamal Khashoggi.”
She also urged Starmer to call for the release of political prisoners who have waited for years without trial, including the blogger Essam al-Zamil, an economist friend of Khashoggi’s detained since September 2017 on charges including “seeking to stir up sedition via Twitter”.
Starmer is due to travel to Saudi Arabia on Monday after meetings in the UAE. Before his trip, Downing Street made a flurry of Saudi investment announcements and said closer ties between the UK and Saudi Arabia would create more than 4,000 British jobs, many of them in the north of England.
In a statement, Starmer said he was “in the Gulf forging closer ties and strengthening relationships that support our growth mission in every corner of the country.
“I am determined to ensure international diplomacy drives local results, whether that is discussing how we can support regeneration in the UK or supporting business deals that create jobs”
They include plans by Graphene Innovation Manchester to launch the world’s first commercial production of graphene-enriched carbon fibre with Saudi Arabia’s Neom giga-project. The government said the project aimed to generate £250m of investment and was expected to create more than 1,000 skilled jobs in Greater Manchester.
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The Oxford-based private equity fund HYCAP will support Saudi Arabia’s plans to reach net zero by 2060 by investing £785m in hydrogen mobility clusters in the UK, which is expected to create another 1,000 jobs.
And this month, the UK carbon capture technology company Carbon Clean signed a collaboration with the Saudi-based firm Aramco which aims to create 2,000 jobs.
The UK and Saudi Arabia are collaborating on other areas including the production of sustainable concrete and investment in UK housing projects, ministers said.
The two countries are planning to establish a Joint International Institute for Clean Hydrogen backed by a consortium of Saudi and British universities, including Newcastle University. The mayor of the North East, Kim McGuinness, will join Starmer in Saudi Arabia and a delegation from the universities involved is expected to travel to the country next year.
Newcastle United FC was controversially taken over by the Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) in October 2021, with the help of extensive behind-the-scenes efforts by Boris Johnson’s government. PIF is chaired by Prince Mohammed.
Last month the government watered down proposals for the new football regulator in England to take into account foreign policy considerations when approving future takeovers.
