Khashoggi son announces funeral service for murdered Saudi journalist

Khashoggi son announces funeral service for murdered Saudi journalist
The eldest son of murdered Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi has announced that a funeral for his father in his home in the Saudi city of Jeddah.
2 min read
16 November, 2018
Saudi Arabia's public prosecutor released its account of Khashoggi's murder on Thursday [Getty]

The eldest son of murdered Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi has announced a funeral service for his father in his home in the Saudi city of Jeddah.

Salah Khashoggi made the announcement on Twitter, as Riyadh called for the death penalty against five people accused of murdering the journalist inside the kingdom's Istanbul consulate.

Salah said the service would be held for several days starting on Friday.

He added that an absentee funeral prayer would be performed for his father in the grand mosques in the holy cities of Mecca and Medina after Friday prayers, given the lack of a corpse to bury.

Khashoggi's body is thought to have been dissolved in acid following his killing in Istanbul by a team of Saudi government operatives.

The announcement comes after Saudi Arabia's public prosecutor released its account of Khashoggi's murder.

The prosecution is seeking the death penalty for five officials who gave the orders and oversaw the execution of the murder.

The Saudi prosecutors claimed that powerful Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, whom Khashoggi had criticised, had no knowledge of the killing.

Salah left Saudi Arabia last month for the United States after authorities lifted a travel ban imposed on him.

Last week, the US-Saudi dual citizen appealed for Saudi authorities to recover his father's body, amid reports that it may have been destroyed in acid.

Salah said his family wanted to bury him in a cemetery in the city of Medina with other family members.

Riyadh has said that Khashoggi's body was given to a local collaborator for disposal, while Turkish media has reported that the hit squad poured the remains down the drain after dissolving them in acid.