Street outside Saudi US embassy could be renamed ‘Jamal Khashoggi Way’

WASHINGTON: Local officials in a Washington neighborhood have voted to rename a street outside Saudi Arabia’s embassy in honor of slain Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi. If approved by the city council, the advisory commission’s measure means a stretch of road going past the expansive embassy building in the upscale Foggy Bottom neighborhood would be ceremonially renamed “Jamal Khashoggi Way.” Khashoggi, a US resident, was murdered in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in October. After initially denying the murder, Saudi Arabia has acknowledged Khashoggi was killed inside the consulate but blamed his death on a “rogue” operation. Top officials from the administration of President Donald Trump have said they’ve seen no direct evidence linking the murder to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, but the CIA reportedly has found a connection. According to CNN, the idea to change the street’s name started about a month ago following an online petition. “We suggest renaming the street address of the Saudi Embassy into Jamal Khashoggi Way to be a daily reminder to Saudi officials” that such killings are “totally unacceptable and as an expression of Washington’s unstinting support for freedom of the press,” the petition states. A similar action was taken outside the Russian embassy, where a street was this year renamed in honor of prominent Vladimir Putin critic Boris Nemtsov, who was assassinated in Moscow in 2015.