The Oct. 2 disappearance of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, who wrote for The Washington Post as well as other publications, has spurred a high-stakes investigation that tested the U.S. relationship with two of its allies, Turkey and Saudi Arabia.

Turkish officials have told its government-run news outlets that there is evidence Khashoggi was killed after he entered a Saudi consulate in Istanbul, Turkey, The New York Times reported. Saudi authorities have denied the allegations but also have yet to offer any explanations.

Though very little is confirmed about his disappearance or what happened inside the consulate where he was last seen, Khashoggi’s reputation as a critic of the Saudi government is well documented.

Here is what is known about Khashoggi and how his work may hold clues to a deepening mystery.

Who was Jamal Khashoggi?

Khashoggi, 59, was a Saudi Arabian journalist who contributed to The Washington Post Global Opinion section. He had been a foreign correspondent in the 1980s and 1990s, according to his website.

He was born in Saudi Arabia but studied at Indiana State University. In 2017, he began living in exile in the U.S. after he was barred from writing or appearing on television in his home country, the State Department wrote in a report. (His website indicates he lived in Washington, D.C., but Bloomberg reports he lived in Virginia.)

According to that report, Khashoggi was said he was living “in ‘self-exile’ and ‘could face arrest upon returning home’ due to his writing.”

Why would his work make him a target?

Khashoggi was a critic of Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and his ruling style. He criticized the crown prince, among many things, for the human casualties in Saudi Aarabia’s war in Yemen, for acting like Russian president Vladimir Putin, and censoring intellectuals and critics like himself.

He was also barred from writing after criticizing President Donald Trump at one point.

In one of his op-eds published in The Post, Khashoggi wrote that under Salman’s rule, Saudi authorities were rounding up and arresting people like him.

“The effort represents the public shaming of intellectuals and religious leaders who dare to express opinions contrary to those of my country’s leadership,” he wrote. “I have left my home, my family and my job, and I am raising my voice. To do otherwise would betray those who languish in prison. I can speak when so many cannot. I want you to know that Saudi Arabia has not always been as it is now.”

Why and when did he enter the Saudi consulate before he disappeared?

Khashoggi had entered the Saudi consulate around 1:30 p.m. local time on Oct. 2 to get a document he needed to marry his fiancee, Hatice Cegniz, The New York Times reported. Khashoggi bought an apartment in Turkey where he and Cegniz would live after they got married, Bloomberg reported.

What do authorities believe happened to him?

Despite questions from The Washington Post and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo (and by extension, Trump), there has been no official account for what happened to Khashoggi.

The prevailing theory is that he was captured, interrogated and killed inside the consulate, The New York Times and other outlets have reported. Evidence of his killing had not yet been made public, however.

Can Trump do more to get answers?

The short answer: It’s complicated.

The long answer: On one hand, Pompeo’s visit to Saudi Arabia has signaled the U.S. government is making some effort to get answers. On the other, the military relationship between the U.S. and Saudi Arabia may explain why Pompeo or Trump are reluctant to implicate the crown prince. The U.S. sells weapons to Saudi Arabia.

Last week, both Republican and Democratic members of Congress signed a letter that triggered an investigation into Khashoggi’s disappearance.

In an op-ed published in The Washington Post, Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Connecticut, went even further by suggesting to end military assistance to the Saudi government. Congress has the authority to block arms sales to Saudi Arabia, according to the Congressional Research Service.

Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Florida, said part of the reason arms sales are important is because it provides leverage over behavior, he told CNN’s Chuck Todd.

"No matter how important they might be to our Iranian strategy, our ability to be a voice for human rights ... is undermined and compromised if we are not willing to confront something as atrocious as what’s allegedly happened here," Rubio said.

Email: luis.gomez@sduniontribune.com

Twitter: @RunGomez

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