Khashoggi's fiancee urges US to hold Saudis accountable

WASHINGTON

The fiancee of murdered Saudi Arabian journalist Jamal Khashoggi pleaded with Congress on Thursday to lead a new international investigation into his killing.

Hatice Cengiz poked criticisms at the stance taken by U.S. President Donald Trump's administration on Khashoggi's killing, telling a House Foreign Affairs subcommittee not enough was being done to hold those accountable for the act.

She said Trump told her the issue would be solved, yet "seven, eight moths later we see nothing has been done and that is why I'm here today."

Cengiz met Khashoggi at a conference in Istanbul in 2018, and after numerous interactions, the two connected and Khashoggi asked for her hand in marriage, with plans to move to Washington.

Everything changed in early October last year when Khashoggi went to the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul for documents that would allow him to marry Cengiz.

Once he entered the consulate, he was subsequently killed. After offering a series of changing narratives to explain what happened, the Saudi government eventually admitted he died there but blamed the operation on a botched rendition attempt.

"Jamal told me that Washington was a beautiful city and that we would have a beautiful life," she said.

Cengiz was previously invited to the White House by Trump last year but rejected the invitation, saying "in those days I thought the U.S. values, the value system, would help solve this."

"It wasn't just Jamal that was killed. It was also what we're talking about here. The values the United States represents -- didn't they get murdered as well?" Cengiz said.

The official Saudi narrative has been met with international skepticism as well as stern criticism from U.S. lawmakers about the possibility that Khashoggi's murder could have been carried out without the explicit consent of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

But Trump and his top officials have rejected any role bin Salman played in the grisly murder.

Trump's own intelligence community determined with high confidence bin Salman ordered his killing.