Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi’s children got US$4 million houses and US$10,000 a month as compensation for killing

Jamal Khashoggi was killed and dismembered in October at Saudi Arabia’s consulate in Istanbul by a team of 15 agents sent from Riyadh

The payments to his four children are aimed in part at ensuring that they continue to show restraint in their public statements

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Saudi Arabia initially said it had no knowledge of Jamal Khashoggi’s fate but later blamed rogue agents for his death. Its public prosecutor has charged 11 people over his murder. File photo: Reuters

Published: 11:31am, 2 Apr 2019Updated: 9:15pm, 2 Apr 2019

The children of slain Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi have received million-dollar houses in the kingdom and monthly five-figure payments as compensation for the killing of their father, according to current and former Saudi officials as well as people close to the family.

Khashoggi’s two sons and two daughters may also receive much larger payouts – possibly tens of millions of dollars apiece – as part of “blood money” negotiations that are expected to ensue when the trials of Khashoggi’s accused killers are completed in the coming months, according to the officials and others who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive talks.

The previously undisclosed payments are part of an effort by Saudi Arabia to reach a long-term arrangement with Khashoggi family members, aimed in part at ensuring that they continue to show restraint in their public statements about the killing of their father by Saudi operatives in Istanbul six months ago, the officials said.

The Khashoggi siblings have refrained from any harsh criticism of the kingdom, even as their father’s death provoked global outrage and widespread condemnation of the heir to the Saudi throne, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

Jamal Khashoggi was killed and dismembered in October at Saudi Arabia’s consulate in Istanbul by a team of 15 agents sent from Riyadh. File photo: AP

The delivery of homes and monthly payments of US$10,000 or more to each sibling were approved late last year by King Salman as part of what one former official described as an acknowledgement that “a big injustice has been done” and an attempt “to make a wrong right”.

But the royal family is also relying on its wealth to help contain the ongoing fallout from the killing and dismemberment of the prominent Saudi journalist and Washington Post contributing columnist who was targeted for articles that were often critical of the government.