The murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi has been dominating headlines with the United States President Joe Biden meeting his UAE counterpart at the Arab summit. In a recent development, an American civil rights lawyer was arrested by the UAE authorities, according to a US-based rights group. The lawyer – Asim Ghafoor – had previously worked in the Khashoggi case. The UAE authorities told Reuters that they arrested Ghafoor on charges of money laundering.
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Rights group Democracy for the Arab World Now (DAWN) told the media that the lawyer was arrested while going to Istanbul for a family weeding. While they were not able to meet with Ghafoor, UAE has granted a request by the US embassy for a consular visit.
“A request has been received and granted, resulting in the case being reopened, and the relevant legal proceedings are under way,” an Emirati official said according to Reuters.
According to the Reuters report, the arrest took place at the Dubai Airport on July 14. The US authorities have confirmed that they knew about the arrest but did not confirm whether it was a topic that was discussed by the leaders during their meeting in Saudi Arabia.
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“There’s no indication that it has anything to do with the Khashoggi issue,” the US official said according to Reuters when asked about the impact this arrest can have on the case.
Khashoggi was killed in 2018 at the Saudi Arabia consulate in Istanbul, Türkiye. It was alleged by the US intelligence that the operation was carried by Saudi agents at the orders of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. However, all such accusations were denied by the Saudi authorities.
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