On 1-year anniversary of Jamal Khashoggi's murder, Saudi Arabia launches tourism ad blitz

On Oct. 2, 2018, "one year ago, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman thought he could end a debate with a bone saw," and "he did succeed in ending a life and silencing a voice — that of our brave and distinguished colleague, Jamal Khashoggi," Washington Post editorial page editor Fred Hiatt wrote, introducing a special section to mark the first anniversary of Khashoggi's murder inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. But "the quests that animated Khashoggi’s life — for freedom, democracy, tolerance and greater understanding across cultures — cannot be so easily defeated."

There was a memorial service for Khashoggi in Istanbul on Wednesday — Washington Post owner Jeff Bezos was among those that attended — and Khashoggi's Washington Post editor Karen Attiah posted audio of his final words before he was killed and dismembered. In the Netherlands, Amnesty International renamed the street in The Hague where the Saudi embassy is located after Khashoggi.

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And Merriam-Webster dictionary made Wednesday's word of the day "sawbones," calling it "an evocative term that calls to mind the saws that 19th-century surgeons used to perform amputations."

Saudi Arabia, meanwhile, launched a huge ad campaign to encourage tourists to visit the kingdom. The campaign included giant billboards in New York and London and full-page ads in U.S. newspapers — though not, presumably, The Washington Post.

The Saudi crown prince vaguely took responsibility for Khashoggi's murder in a 60 Minutes interview broadcast on Sunday, but denied he ordered the critical journalist murdered. The United Nations concluded that there is, in fact, "credible evidence" that bin Salman mastermind the murder, and the CIA determined that he almost certainly ordered the killing.