Jamal Khashoggi’s long road to the doors of the Saudi Consulate

#TIA – We publish this further backgrounder on the Jamal Khashoggis mystery more as a service to history than as news.

“The long road that took Jamal Khashoggi to the front door of the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul and the horror that lay inside began in the 1980s in Afghanistan, when he was a passionate young journalist who supported the Saudi establishment — but couldn’t resist criticizing the royal family when he thought it was wrong.

Khashoggi’s path took him through risky territory. He was friendly with Osama bin Laden in his militant youth; his patron in mid-career was Prince Turki al-Faisal, the longtime Saudi intelligence chief; he traveled sometimes to Qatar in the past decade, as a poisonous feud grew between Riyadh and Doha. But his public writings and private messages show that in his head and heart, he was always a Saudi patriot.”

Read more at The Washington Post