BFF-32 Khashoggi’s daughters promise to keep his legacy alive

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TURKEY-SAUDI-KHASHOGGI

Khashoggi’s daughters promise to keep his legacy alive

WASHINGTON, Nov 24, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – In a poignant farewell to their
father published in The Washington Post, the daughters of slain Saudi
journalist Jamal Khashoggi vowed that “his light would never fade” and that
his legacy lived through them.

Khashoggi, former Saudi royal insider who became a critic of Crown Prince
Mohammed bin Salman, was murdered at the Saudi Arabian consulate in Istanbul
last month.

His death unleashed a global wave of criticism against the crown prince,
who Saudi officials say had no role in the killing.

“This is no eulogy, for that would confer a state of closure,” Noha
Khashoggi and Razan Jamal Khashoggi wrote in a Post opinion piece published
online Friday.

“Rather, this is a promise that his light will never fade, that his legacy
will be preserved within us.”

The 59 year-old journalist was at the consulate in Istanbul seeking
documents needed to marry his Turkish fiancee. Riyadh — after weeks of
denial — said he was killed in a “rogue” operation.

The daughters remember their father, affectionately refered to as “Baba,”
as a “loving man with a big heart” who traveled widely and always returned
bearing “gifts and fascinating stories.”

“As bittersweet as it was, we knew from a young age … that he was an
important man whose words had an effect on people over a great distance.”

It was vital for him “to speak up, to share his opinions, to have candid
discussions,” the daughters recall.

For him “writing was not just a job; it was a compulsion. It was ingrained
into the core of his identity, and it truly kept him alive.

“Now, his words keep his spirit with us, and we are grateful for that.”

Khashoggi had created a new life in the United States, but “he grieved” for
his native Saudi Arabia, never abandoning hope for his country.

“Dad was no dissident,” the daughters wrote.

“If being a writer was ingrained in his identity, being a Saudi was part of
that same grain.”

BSS/AFP/MRI/1847 hrs