RIYADH — It appears that the involvement of the international media in republishing or repeating what the Qatari media and the Turkish newspapers publish without checking is continuing unabated with CNN, this time, in the dock for furthering false claims.
The news outlet quickly published a false statement about the family of the missing Saudi citizen Jamal Khashoggi, claiming the family had made the request to form an independent international committee to investigate Jamal’s disappearance.
This claim was being made despite Jamal’s family’s repeated assurances, on more than one occasion, that their confidence in the Saudi government is limitless.
Mutasim Khashoggi, Jamal's cousin, who headed a family meeting in Jeddah immediately after the news of his disappearance, refuted the authenticity of the alleged statement, asserting, “It (the statement) had not been issued by the family.”
Mutasim Khashoggi described the statement as "misleading," while stressing Jamal family's commitment to their only statement confirming their confidence in the Saudi government’s efforts in ascertaining Jamal's disappearance.
"Our position as a family is that Jamal is missing," Mutasim Khashoggi said, adding that Salah Jamal Khashoggi, the son of the missing Jamal Khashoggi, is the authorized person of the family to issue any statement.