Protesters with the activist group Code Pink demonstrate outside the White House to call attention to the disappearance of Saudi Arabian j...
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| Protesters with the activist group Code Pink demonstrate outside the White House to call attention to the disappearance of Saudi Arabian journalist Jamal Khashoggi, in Washington, D.C., on Friday. The European Parliament urged member states to implement an arms embargo on Saudi Arabia. Photo by Kevin Dietsch/UPI |
By Danielle Haynes, UPI
The European Parliament, the legislative body of the European Union, passed a resolution Thursday imposing an arms embargo on Saudi Arabia in response to the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
It is up to each EU member country to determine whether to implement the non-binding resolution. Earlier this week, Germany halted all future arms sales to Saudi Arabia.
On Friday, Saudi Arabia confirmed Khashoggi died Oct. 2 after entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, Turkey, to obtain documents for his planned marriage. The government said he died after getting into a fight, but audio recordings indicated he was tortured and dismembered.
Khashoggi was a Saudi national who moved to the United States in 2017 and became a columnist for The Washington Post.
The European Parliament's resolution condemned "in the strongest possible terms" the torture and slaying of Khashoggi. It called for an impartial, international investigation into how he died and who was responsible.
The resolution also says it's unlikely Khashoggi's death happened without the knowledge of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
The European Parliament also called on member states to stand prepared to impose targeted sanctions, including visa bans and asset freezes, on Saudi individuals pending the result of an investigation.
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