DC renames street in front of Saudi Arabian Embassy after Jamal Khashoggi

Washington DC will rename a street in  honor of slain Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi in front of the Saudi Arabian Embassy in a slap at the autocratic Middle Eastern country responsible for his brutal murder.

The City Council unanimously passed the Jamal Khashoggi Way Designation Act on Tuesday, saying it serves as a reminder that ‘free press is fundamental to our democracy’ and of the dangers journalists face dangers worldwide.

‘Jamal Khashoggi Way will serve as a daily reminder for the Saudi Embassy and the Saudi government that Jamal Khashoggi and his legacy are just as powerful in death as in life, and that the principles of human rights and democracy for which he gave his life burn bright in those letters spelling out his name and in that sign right just across the street,’ Sarah Leah Whitson, executive director of Democracy for the Arab World Now, told Yahoo News.

Supporters of the bill said the name change will serve to ‘permanently shame and embarrass’ Saudi diplomats and their visitors for Khashoggi’s government-ordered slaying. 

Khashaoggi, a Washington Post journalist and critic of Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, founded the Democracy for the Arab World four months before his murder. 

He was last seen entering the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul on Oct. 2, 2018. Turkish officials believe his body was dismembered and removed. His remains have not been found. 

‘This name change demonstrates the values of District residents of a free and independent press,’ Councilmember Brooke Pinto, who was the chief sponsor of the act, said in a statement. 

Washington DC City Council unanimously passed the Jamal Khashoggi Way Designation Act on Tuesday, saying it serves as a reminder that ‘free press is fundamental to our democracy’ and dangers journalists face worldwide

Renaming the block in front of the Saudi Embassy (pictured) to Khashoggi Way will also serve to ‘permanently shame and embarrass’ Saudi diplomats and their visitors for the journalist’s government-ordering slaying

Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s (pictured) was accused by Western intelligence agencies of ordering Khashoggi’s murder

The Jamal Khashoggi Way Designation Act is expected to be signed by Mayor Muriel Bowser in the near future and will then go to Congress for a 30-day review before it can become law.

Officials have indicated they expect the name change will be approved and that a signage unveiling ceremony will take place next month. 

The Saudi Embassy is located on New Hampshire Ave NW, across the street from the Kennedy Center and down the road from the infamous Watergate Hotel. It is about two miles west of the White House.

Khashoggi, a former member of the Saudi royal family turned dissident, was a US citizen and working for the Washington Post as a columnist when he was killed.

The murder sparked international outrage that continues to reverberate, with Western intelligence agencies accusing the kingdom’s de-facto ruler Prince Mohammed bin Salman of authorizing the killing.

Khashoggi is seen entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on the day of his killing

The prince has denied ordering his murder and the Saudi government has said it convicted those responsible  during a closed-door 2019 trial. are ‘serving their sentences’ in Saudi Arabia.

There is still no public record of who was convicted. 

The bill’s passage comes as attention returned to the journalist’s murder after French police, acting on the basis a Turkish warrant, held a Saudi man at a Paris airport over suspected links to the killing.

Khalid Aedh Al-Otaibi, who shares his name with a man wanted under an international arrest warrant in connection with Khashoggi’s killing, was arrested because his passport triggered an alert.

The bill’s passage comes as attention returned to the journalist’s murder after French police, acting on the basis a Turkish warrant, held Khalid al-Otaibi (pictured) at a Paris airport over suspected links to the killing

Al-Otaibi, who shares his name with a man wanted under an international arrest warrant in connection with Khashoggi’s killing, was arrested because his passport triggered an alert 

However, he was freed Wednesday after officials deemed the arrest a case of mistaken identity. 

Khalid Al-Otaibi is a common name in Saudi Arabia.  The other Al-Otaibi is suspected of being part of the hit squad that carried out the murder at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in 2018. 

Twenty-six Saudis, including Al-Otaibi, are currently on trial in absentia in Istanbul over the killing.

Turkey began the trials in October last year, but none of the Saudis accused has yet to face court in person.

Al-Otaibi is also one of 17 people that the US Treasury designated for sanctions in 2018 over the murder.