Amanpour says Iran president interview scrapped over headscarf demand

Yahoo – AFP, Ebrahim Raisi, September 22, 2022 

Veteran journalist Christiane Amanpour said Thursday that an interview with Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi was scrapped after he insisted she wear a headscarf, the focus of major protests in the cleric-run state. 

Amanpour, the chief international anchor of CNN who also has a show on US public broadcaster PBS, said she was ready for the interview Wednesday on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly when an aide insisted she cover her hair. 

"I politely declined. We are in New York, where there is no law or tradition regarding headscarves," Amanpour, who was born in Britain to an Iranian father, wrote on Twitter. 

"I pointed out that no previous Iranian president has required this when I have interviewed them outside Iran," she said. 

"I said that I couldn't agree to this unprecedented and unexpected condition." 

She posted a picture of herself -- without a headscarf -- sitting in front of an empty chair where Raisi would have been. 

An aide to Raisi, a hardline cleric, told Amanpour that he was insisting on a headscarf because of "the situation in Iran," she said. 

Iran has been swept by nearly a week of protests since the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, who died after being arrested by morality police that enforce the clerics' rules on how women dress. 

A non-governmental group said that at least 31 Iranian civilians have been killed in the crackdown on the protests, in which women have been seen burning headscarves.

New US policy won't compel journalists to reveal sources

Yahoo = AFP, Bob Lever, July 19, 2021 

Attorney General Merrick Garland said the US administration would no longer go
to court to force journalists to reveal their sources a move hailed by advocates
 for a free press

The US government pledged Monday to steer clear of legal orders that force journalists to reveal their sources, with only rare exceptions, reversing course after revelations of secret efforts to obtain information from the media. 

The Justice Department said it would no longer use the "compulsory legal process" including subpoenas or warrants to obtain records or identify sources from journalists involved in newsgathering activities. 

The new policy comes following revelations that under former president Donald Trump the department secretly obtained phone records of journalists investigating his administration, including from CNN, the Washington Post and New York Times. 

The statement said the policy shift was made "because a free and independent press is vital to the functioning of our democracy." 

It said the new policy applies to reporters, publishers, third-party service providers and others involved in newsgathering, and to physical or digital documents as well as phone records. 

Attorney General Merrick Garland announced the new policy in a memo and called for "a review process to further explain, develop and codify the policy." 

Monday's announcement comes after news that the Trump administration sought records of journalists investigating Russian meddling in the 2016 election, while obtaining "gag orders" to keep that effort secret. 

White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said last month that the use of such orders in leak investigations "is not consistent with the president's policy direction." 

The Garland memo said exceptions to the policy would be made if the journalist were the subject of an investigation, or was suspected of being a foreign agent or member of a terrorist group, or in cases of "imminent" risk of death or bodily harm. 

The policy would not apply if the reporter were suspected of a criminal act such as insider trading, or if a criminal act -- such as breaking and entering -- were part of the reporter's activities. 

Former New York Times journalist Judith Miller, who was jailed in 2005 for
 refusing to reveal her sources for her reporting on Iraq, is seen in a 2008 picture

Longstanding concerns 

While the cases involving the Trump administration have drawn scrutiny, the policy change addresses a longstanding concern on press freedom and follows several cases where journalists have been threatened with jail for refusing to reveal sources. 

"The attorney general has taken a necessary and momentous step to protect press freedom at a critical time," said Bruce Brown, executive director of the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press. 

"This historic new policy will ensure that journalists can do their job of informing the public without fear of federal government intrusion into their relationships with confidential sources." 

The American Civil Liberties Union also welcomed the move. 

"This policy is a major step forward in protecting journalists against government spying and safeguarding a free press," said Patrick Toomey, senior staff attorney of the ACLU’s National Security Project. 

New York Times reporter Judith Miller was jailed in 2005 for refusing to reveal the source of her reporting on weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. 

Another New York Times reporter, James Risen, was threatened with jail for refusing to testify in a case seeking to confirm his sources for reporting on a US operation in Iran that was intended to disrupt that country's nuclear program. 

Two San Francisco Chronicle reporters waged a legal battle to avoid incarceration in 2007 for protecting a source for an investigation in a steroid scandal in major league sports.

Chinese citizen journalist jailed for Wuhan virus reporting

Yahoo – AFP, 28 December 2020 

Authoroties said former Chinese lawyer and citizen journalist
Zhang Zhan had spread "False remarks" online.

A Chinese citizen journalist was jailed for four years Monday for her reporting from Wuhan as the Covid-19 outbreak began, her lawyer said, almost a year after details of an "unknown viral pneumonia" surfaced in the central China city. 

Zhang Zhan, a former lawyer who arrived at court in a wheelchair, was sentenced at a brief hearing in a Shanghai court for allegedly "picking quarrels and provoking trouble" during her reporting in the chaotic initial stages of the outbreak. 

Her live reports and essays were shared on social media platforms in February, grabbing the attention of authorities, who have punished eight virus whistleblowers so far as they curb criticism of the government's response to the outbreak. 

Beijing has congratulated itself for "extraordinary" success in controlling the virus inside its borders, with an economy on the rebound while much of the rest of the world stutters through painful lockdowns and surging caseloads a year on from the start of the pandemic in Wuhan. 

Controlling the information flow during an unprecedented global health crisis has been pivotal in allowing China's communist authorities to reframe the narrative in their favour, with President Xi Jinping being garlanded for his leadership by the country's ruling party. 

But that has come at a serious cost to anyone who has picked holes in the official storyline. 

The court said Zhang Zhan had spread "false remarks" online, according to one of her lawyers Zhang Keke, but the prosecution did not fully divulge its evidence in court. 

"We had no way of understanding what exactly Zhang Zhan was accused of doing," he added, describing it as "a speedy, rushed hearing." 

In return the defendant "didn't respond [to questions]... She refused to answer when the judge asked her to confirm her identity." 

The defendant's mother sobbed loudly as the verdict was read out, Ren Quanniu, another member of Zhang's defence team, told reporters who were barred from entering the court. 

Concerns are mounting over the health of 37-year-old Zhang, who began a hunger strike in June and has been force-fed via a nasal tube. 

Her legal team said her health was in decline and she suffered from headaches, dizziness and stomach pain, and that she had appeared in court in a wheelchair. 

"She said when I visited her (last week): 'If they give me a heavy sentence then I will refuse food until the very end.'... She thinks she will die in prison," Ren said before the trial. 

"It's an extreme method of protesting against this society and this environment." 

China's communist authorities have a history of putting dissidents on trial in opaque courts between Christmas and New Year in an effort to minimise Western scrutiny. 

Example made

The sentencing comes just weeks before an international team of World Health Organization experts is expected to arrive in China to investigate the origins of Covid-19. 

Zhang was critical of the early response in Wuhan, writing in a February essay that the government "didn't give people enough information, then simply locked down the city". 

"This is a great violation of human rights," she wrote. 

Rights groups and embassies have also drawn attention to her case, although diplomats from several countries were denied requests to monitor the hearing. 

"Zhang Zhan's case raises serious concerns about media freedom in China," the British embassy in Beijing said, urging "China to release all those detained for their reporting." 

Authorities "want to use her case as an example to scare off other dissidents from raising questions about the pandemic situation in Wuhan earlier this year", added Leo Lan, research and advocacy consultant at the Chinese Human Rights Defenders NGO. 

A United Nations official following the trial also expressed "deep concern" about the verdict. 

"We raised her case with the authorities throughout 2020 as an example of the excessive clampdown on freedom of expression linked to #COVID19 & continue to call for her release," the office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet said in a tweet. 

Zhang is the first of a group of four citizen journalists detained by authorities after reporting from Wuhan to face trial. 

Previous attempts by AFP to contact the other three -- Chen Qiushi, Fang Bin and Li Zehua -- were unsuccessful. 

Related Article:

"Corona 1", Reykjavik, Iceland, Mar, 2020 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll) - 

(>13.46 Min - Reference to the Global Coronavirus crisis)

Press rights group in secret Riyadh mission to urge journalists' release

Yahoo – AFP, Anne CHAON and Stuart WILLIAMS, July 10, 2019

Saudi blogger Raif Badawi is among 30 journalists which Reporters Without Borders
(RSF) wants to see released (AFP Photo/TOBIAS SCHWARZ)

Paris (AFP) - French press freedom group Reporters Without Borders (RSF) confidentially met top Saudi officials in Riyadh to press for the release of journalists after the murder of dissident writer Jamal Khashoggi, it revealed Wednesday.

The RSF delegation went to Riyadh in late April and urged Saudi authorities to release 30 journalists who it says are imprisoned in the kingdom for their work.

The group said it was only confirming the visit now after the prospect of pardons did not materialise and as Saudi Arabia prepares to host next year's G20 summit.

"We had a series of meetings from 21-23 April and we could meet officials at a high level," RSF's secretary general Christophe Deloire told AFP.

"It was an unprecedented mission," he added.

Khashoggi, a former royal insider turned dissident, was strangled to death and his body dismembered inside Saudi Arabia's consulate in Istanbul last year.

Agnes Callamard, a UN special rapporteur on extrajudicial executions, reported "credible evidence" last month that linked the powerful crown prince Mohammed bin Salman to the killing.

"We were able to discuss on each occasion the assassination of Khashoggi and the situation of journalists, without any exception," said Deloire.

He defended the secrecy of the mission, only revealed now at the start of a Global Conference for Media Freedom in London, saying "there needs to be public and non-public pleading".

Jamal Khashoggi was murdered inside Saudi Arabia's consulate in Istanbul last year in 

a killing linked by some to crown prince Mohammed bin Salman (AFP Photo/

MOHAMMED AL-SHAIKH, OSCAR DEL POZO)

'Saudi did not act'

RSF added in a statement that its delegation led by Deloire had met key Saudi figures usually out of reach for a foreign NGO, including Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir and public prosecutor Saud al-Mojeb.

"The mission remained confidential until now as the possibility of pardons during the Ramadan period was discussed -- a point the Saudi government did not act on," RSF said.

RSF said that the release of the journalists would be the only way to clear Riyadh's way to the G20 chairmanship and hosting the annual summit following the assassination of Khashoggi.

The prospect of Mohammed bin Salman -- known as MBS and seen by many as the country's de-facto leader -- greeting world leaders at the next G20 summit has already raised eyebrows.

"Political accountability for Mr Khashoggi will mean that it (the Saudi G20) doesn't happen or it's moved elsewhere, or something is being done to ensure that the political system in the US and in other countries does not become complicit of that international crime," Callamard said in Washington earlier this month.

The communique issued at the end of the G20 summit in Japan last month confirmed that Saudi would host the next summit in 2020.

So far no G20 member has mulled any kind of boycott.

The assassination of Khashoggi further darkened Saudi Arabia's already bleak press freedom credentials.

For the first time, Saudi Arabia dipped into the bottom 10 countries in RSF's 2019 World Press Freedom Index, and is now ranked 172nd out of 180 countries.

Among the 30 that RSF wants released is Saudi blogger Raif Badawi who was jailed for 10 years for insulting Islam and has received 50 lashes of 1,000 to which he was sentenced.

Pope issues new warning against fake news

Yahoo – AFP, May 18, 2019

Pope Francis is seen through the rain-covered window of his vehicle as he leaves
at the end of his weekly general audience at St Peter's Square at the Vatican on
May 15, 2019. (AFP Photo/Vincenzo PINTO)

Vatican City (AFP) - Pope Francis on Saturday urged journalists to desist from publishing fake news, saying it could cause harm, and instead "take time to understand" issues before reporting on them.

Receiving foreign journalists in the Vatican, the pontiff also urged journalists to remain "humble" saying humility "prevents the rotten flow of disinformation and offers the good bread of truth."

Pope Francis said humility was of great importance as it implies consciousness "that through an article, a tweet, a live broadcast either televised or on radio can do good, but also if one is not attentive and scrupulous, harm."

He also said journalists must be very careful of their choice of words in an era of "hostile language" proliferating everywhere, especially on social media.

"Everyone knows how the search for truth is difficult and demands humility," he said.

He also asked the press to speak of "wars forgotten by society.

"Who still talks of the Rohingyas?" he said. "Who still speaks of the Yazidis? They are forgotten and they continue to suffer."

About 740,000 Muslim minority Rohingya have fled Myanmar for Bangladesh since a brutal military crackdown began in August 2017.

Thousands of refugees attempt to flee the Bangladeshi camps each year in pursuit of better opportunities in countries such as Malaysia and Thailand.

They frequently spend their life savings to embark on dangerous boat journeys they believe will improve their lives, but many fall prey to international human trafficking gangs.

The Yazidi community once numbered around 500,000 members in the mountainous Sinjar region of northwest Iraq, but it was ravaged by the Islamic State's 2014 sweep into the area.

Jihadists killed Yazidi men, forced boys to join their ranks as fighters and abducted and imprisoned thousands of Yazidi women as sex slaves.

Related Article:

FAKE NEWS ! – (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll)

US citizens among nine held in Saudi crackdown: activists

Yahoo – AFP, April 5, 2019

A file photo taken in September 2016 of Saudi activist Aziza al-Yousef, temporarily
 released last week but who remains on trial with other women's rights campaigners
(AFP Photo/FAYEZ NURELDINE)

Dubai (AFP) - Saudi Arabia has arrested at least nine writers and academics, including two US citizens, in an apparent crackdown on supporters of detained women activists whose trial has drawn global censure, campaigners said Friday.

News of the arrests came the morning after US lawmakers voted to end military support for a Saudi-led war in neighbouring Yemen, which has triggered what the UN describes as the world's worst humanitarian crisis.

It also marks the first major crackdown since the brutal murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul last October, which sparked unprecedented international scrutiny of the kingdom's human rights record.

Campaigners identified the US-Saudi dual nationals as writer and doctor Bader al-Ibrahim and Salah al-Haidar, the son of Aziza al-Yousef -- a high-profile activist who was temporarily released last week but remains on trial along with other women campaigners.

The latest round up started on Thursday, a day after the 11 women -- some of whom accused interrogators of torture and sexual abuse in detention -- returned to court to face charges that include contact with foreign media, diplomats and human rights groups.

London-based rights group ALQST identified eight arrested writers, bloggers and academics -- including a pregnant woman -- adding that the crackdown was linked to their support of female activists on trial.

Another public intellectual, university lecturer Anas al-Mazrou, was detained last month after he expressed solidarity with the detained women during a panel discussion at the Riyadh book fair, it added.

Prisoners of Conscience, a Saudi group that tracks political prisoners, put the number of people arrested at 10.

A State Department official confirmed that two US citizens were arrested, but refused to give more details due to "privacy considerations".

"When a US citizen is arrested abroad, the Department of State works to provide all appropriate consular assistance and seek access to the citizen without delay," the official said.

"We have already engaged the Saudi government in this regard."

Many of those arrested face travel bans, campaigners said.

The murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi has left the oil-rich Gulf kingdom

facing increased scrutiny over human rights (AFP Photo/MOHAMMED AL-SHAIKH)

"Saudi authorities seem to be hell-bent on silencing anyone who dares to speak up or even voice their opinions privately and publicly," Amnesty International's Middle East campaigns director Samah Hadid told AFP.

"This goes beyond just attacking activists and now seems to target different segments of society. This is a dangerous pattern."

Pressure to stay silent 

"What is disturbing about new Saudi arrests is that waves of arrests keep moving from most-known to successively lesser knowns," Saudi-American activist Nora Abdulkarim said on Twitter.

"Another confusing aspect is timing, leaves one asking: 'why now?'"

Riyadh has faced pressure from major Western powers to release the women on trial, most of whom were detained last summer in a wide-ranging crackdown against activists just before the historic lifting of a decades-long ban on female motorists.

Three of them -- activist Aziza al-Yousef, blogger Eman al-Nafjan and preacher Rokaya al-Mohareb -- were granted temporary release last week.

Before their provisional release, the three freed women and their bail guarantors were made to sign a pledge that they will stay away from the media, according to multiple people with access to the trial.

The siblings of one of the prominent detainees, activist Loujain al-Hathloul, this week said they were being pressured by people close to the Saudi state to stay silent over her treatment in detention.

People close to the Saudi establishment have warned that public criticism by family members could prolong their detention.

"A reminder: we are not going to stay silent," Loujain's sister Alia al-Hathloul tweeted on Friday.

At an emotionally charged hearing last week, some women broke down as they accused interrogators of subjecting them to electric shocks, flogging and groping in detention, two people with access to the trial told AFP.

A Saudi prosecutor roundly rejected the accusations in the latest court hearing on Wednesday, witnesses said, reiterating the government's stance.

The next hearing in the trial, which foreign media and diplomats are barred from attending, is scheduled for April 17, activists say.

Amal Clooney named UK media freedom envoy

Yahoo – AFP, April 5, 2019

Lebanese-British human-rights lawyer Amal Clooney was named special envoy
for the media by the British government (AFP Photo/Damien MEYER)

Dinard (France) (AFP) - Prominent human rights lawyer Amal Clooney said it had "never been more dangerous to report the news" on Friday as she was appointed special envoy for media freedom by the British government.

Clooney has been tasked with heading a new panel of legal experts who will advise the British government on how to encourage other countries to promote transparency and protect media workers.

"We are here because it's never been more dangerous to report the news," Clooney told a press conference on the sidelines of a G7 foreign ministers meeting in Dinard, northern France.

"According to the Committee for the Protection of Journalists, in the last five years, we've seen the highest number of journalists imprisoned since their records began over three decades ago," she added.

Clooney said her legal panel could propose reforms to repressive laws in countries and she raised the idea of sanctions that could be used on regimes "that have abused journalists."

Her experience defending journalists in countries such a Egypt and Myanmar "has shown me how easily vague laws and corrupt courts can be used to silence dissent and muzzle the media."

In December last year, Clooney blasted US President Donald Trump for giving a "green light" to regimes to persecute journalists through his anti-press rhetoric.

British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt said Friday that "democratic countries need to stand together to make it an international taboo of the highest order to order the arrest or detain journalists for doing their job."

US senator says Saudi crown prince must be 'dealt with' over Khashoggi murder

Yahoo – AFP, January 19, 2019

Graham said the US will issue a 'definitive' statement that the Saudi crown
prince knew about the murder (AFP Photo/Adem ALTAN)

Ankara (AFP) - A key US senator on Saturday said the Saudi crown prince was responsible for Jamal Khashoggi's murder and must be "dealt with", as he threatened new sanctions.

Republican Lindsey Graham, an influential ally of President Donald Trump, has previously said that Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman was complicit in the grisly killing of Washington Post contributor Khashoggi in October.

"I have concluded that the relationship between Saudi Arabia and the United States cannot move forward until MBS has been dealt with," Graham said, using the initials for the crown prince.

Graham also threatened new sanctions against those suspected of involvement in the murder during a press conference in Ankara.

Western countries including the US, France and Canada have placed sanctions on nearly 20 Saudi nationals as the case has tarnished Riyadh's international reputation.

"We will start sanctioning those involved in the killing of Mr Khashoggi. We'll make a definitive statement that MBS knew about it and is responsible for it and come up with a series of sanctions," the South Carolina lawmaker said.

Turkey says Khashoggi was killed by a team of 15 Saudis who strangled him during a visit to the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on October 2 to obtain paperwork ahead of his upcoming marriage.

The remains of the insider turned critic of the kingdom have yet to be found, three months after this murder.

Riyadh has denied any claims of the crown prince's involvement but the case has caused strains with Washington.

Earlier this month the trial of 11 accused opened in Saudi Arabia with the attorney general seeking the death penalty for five defendants.

Graham acknowledged that he had been "enthusiastic" in his support of Prince Mohammed but accepted he had been "wrong".

"What has transpired in the last couple of years is unnerving to say the least," he said.

Graham said the sanctions were intended to send the message that the murder was "not what you do if you're an ally of the United States".

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman was excluded from a list of 17 people
hit with US sanctions over the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, but two
top aides were on it (AFP Photo/FAYEZ NURELDINE)

Related Article:

Khashoggi murder: US hits 17 Saudis with sanctions

King tours Saudi as Khashoggi crisis rages abroad

Saudi teen refugee, now in Canada, wants to fight for other women

Saudi teenager Rahaf Mohammed al-Qunun (R) is seen here arriving at Pearson 

International airport in Toronto on January 12, 2019 -- to her left is Saba Abbas

from COSTI immigrant services (AFP Photo/Lars Hagberg)

Trump accuses Saudis of 'lies' over Khashoggi killing

Yahoo – AFP, Brian KNOWLTON, Issam AHMED, October 21, 2018

Trump stepped back from his stance that Saudi Arabia's latest explanation for
 the death of the journalist inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul was credible, but
said he remained confident in the leadership of Crown Prince Mohammed bin
 Salman (AFP Photo/MANDEL NGAN)

Washington (AFP) - US President Donald Trump accused Saudi Arabia of lying about the killing of Jamal Khashoggi, his strongest comments to date on the affair, as pressure built Sunday on the administration to identify and punish those responsible.

In an interview with The Washington Post published late Saturday, Trump stepped back from his stance that the Saudis had earlier provided a credible explanation for the death of the journalist inside their Istanbul consulate, but he said he remained confident in the leadership of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

"Obviously there's been deception and there's been lies," he said of the shifting accounts offered by Riyadh.

Saudi officials originally said Khashoggi, who entered the diplomatic mission on October 2, had left unharmed, before announcing Friday that he was killed inside the building in what they described as an altercation.

"Their stories are all over the place," added Trump.

Saudi Arabia faced a growing chorus of incredulity Sunday, with world powers including Britain and France demanding answers and some American politicians calling for tough, concerted action to punish the Saudi royal family if it were proven to be responsible.

The Saudi version lacked "consistency and credibility," said Chrystia Freeland, Canada's foreign minister.

Saudi officials originally said Khashoggi, who entered the diplomatic mission on 

October 2, had left unharmed, before announcing Friday he was killed inside the 

building in what they described as an altercation (AFP Photo/MOHAMMED AL-SHAIKH)

Growing pressure

Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir insisted Sunday that the killing was "a tremendous mistake" -- part of a "rogue operation," he said -- and the crown prince had not ordered it.

He also expressed confidence that the US-Saudi relationship would survive the crisis.

"The strategic relationship is important for both countries," Jubeir told Fox News. "The relationship will weather this."

But a series of US lawmakers of both parties expressed doubt, demanding a stronger stance against the longtime US regional partner.

Several senior members of Trump's Republican Party said they believed Prince Mohammed, the kingdom's de facto ruler, was linked to the killing, and one called for a "collective" Western response if a link is proved.

Trump emphasized the importance of the US-Saudi relationship to Washington's regional strategic goals.

He described the 33-year-old prince, widely known as MBS, as a "strong person; he has very good control."

Trump added that he has yet to be shown any evidence by intelligence officials that would make him believe MBS had any direct role.

Demonstrators dressed as Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman 

and US President Donald Trump (C) pretend to kiss outside the White House 

(AFP Photo/Jim WATSON)

"Nobody has told me he's responsible. Nobody has told me he's not responsible. We haven't reached that point," the president said.

"It could be something in the building went badly awry."

Republicans hit MBS

Amid Trump's apparent equivocations, several leading Republicans demanded a tougher stance.

Asked if he thought Prince Mohammed was behind the killing, Republican Senator Bob Corker told CNN: "Yes, I think he did it. Let's finish this investigation."

Corker, who chairs the Foreign Relations Committee, added that if the prince is implicated, "There should be a collective response."

Missing journalist Jamal Khashoggi's Turkish fiancee Hatice Cengiz is seen 

waiting in front of the Saudi Arabian consulate in Istanbul (AFP Photo/OZAN KOSE)

"I think you're going to see the United States, United Kingdom, France, Germany working collectively with others if he did this to respond in an appropriate way."

Perhaps the strongest words came from Lindsey Graham, a strong Trump ally in the Senate who called for Prince Mohammed to "be removed."

"I would like to punish those involved. It's impossible to believe the crown prince wasn't involved. I don't mind military sales but I object to business with the current leadership," he said.

Trump has cited a planned $110 billion arms sale to Saudi Arabia as a reason for a cautious approach, although many components of that package had been set in motion months or years before he took office.

"This behavior is outside the norm to the point that the people involved need to be removed in my view. Saudi Arabia is a country and MBS is a person. I'm willing to separate the two," Graham continued, accusing the prince of acting in a "barbaric fashion."

Democrats have repeatedly lashed out at Trump's response as weak and indecisive, and they said his latest reaction fell short as well.

Barring an unlikely "confession" from Prince Mohammed, Democratic Congressman Adam Schiff said Sunday, "the president is going to accept the crown prince's denials like he's accepted Putin's denials and Kim Jong Un's denials."

"We have to see if financial motives are influencing the president," he said on ABC.

Democratic Senator Dick Durbin called in a statement for the expulsion of the Saudi ambassador from the United States -- Prince Khalid bin Salman, the crown prince's younger brother -- pending completion of a "third-party investigation into the kidnap and murder of Jamal Khashoggi."

Khashoggi criticizes Saudi prince in newly released interview

Yahoo – AFP, 20 October 2018

Saudi Arabia said journalist Jamal Khashoggi died when talks at its Istanbul
consulate deteriorated into a "brawl and a fistfight"

Saudi critic Jamal Khashoggi criticized Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's "authoritarian rule" shortly before his death, in an interview published following confirmation he died at the kingdom's Istanbul consulate.

Speaking off the record to a Newsweek journalist working on a story about the Saudi leadership, he insisted he did not view himself as "an opposition" -- he just wanted "a better Saudi Arabia".

"I'm not calling for the overthrow of the regime, because I know it's not possible and is too risky, and there is no one to overthrow the regime," Khashoggi said.

"I'm just calling for reform of the regime."

He described Prince Mohammed as "an old-fashioned tribal leader" out of touch with Saudi's poor.

"Sometimes I feel that ... he wants to enjoy the fruits of First World modernity and Silicon Valley and cinemas and everything, but at the same time he wants also to rule like how his grandfather ruled Saudi Arabia," Khashoggi told Newsweek.

"He still doesn't see the people. When he sees the people, that's when the actual reform will start."

Khashoggi also criticized Prince Mohammed's lack of "proper advisers".

"He is moving toward a Saudi Arabia according to him, a Saudi Arabia according to Mohammed bin Salman only," said Khashoggi, who was himself a contributor to the Washington Post newspaper.

Khashoggi described two of the prince's aides -- sports chief Turki al-Sheikh and the since-dismissed media adviser Saud al-Qahtani -- as "very thuggish".

"People fear them. You challenge them, you might end up in prison, and that has happened," he said.

Khashoggi was last seen on October 2 entering his country's consulate in Istanbul.

His disappearance had been shrouded in mystery, with Turkish officials accusing Saudi Arabia of carrying out a state-sponsored killing and dismembering the body.

Saudi Arabia finally admitted early Saturday that Khashoggi had died inside the consulate in what it described as a "brawl".

The admission -- after persistent claims by the Saudi authorities that Khashoggi had left the consulate alive -- came following the threat of US sanctions.

The Saudi authorities have not yet said where his body is.

In the Newsweek interview, Khashoggi, whose disappearance tipped Saudi Arabia into one of its worst international crises, said pushback from the international community was vital to keeping the Saudi regime in check.

"That is our only hope," he said.

Related Article:

Saudi prince's image seen at risk over missing critic

Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is facing a backlash over the disappearance of Jamal Khashoggi from business and media previously supportive of his reform drive, with partnerships at risk and big names boycotting a major conferencehttps://t.co/wR8a5nIeEK

— AFP news agency (@AFP) October 12, 2018

Saudi Arabia admits #JamalKhashoggi was killed inside its Istanbul consulate, saying he died during a "brawl"https://t.co/vOo8csYVEX pic.twitter.com/Qx6bCOiQN0

— AFP news agency (@AFP) October 20, 2018