Road by Saudi embassy in US could be renamed after murdered journalist Jamal Khashoggi

Local officials in a Washington neighbourhood have voted to rename a street outside Saudi Arabia’s embassy in honour of slain Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

If approved by the city council, the advisory commission’s measure means a stretch of road going past the expansive embassy building in the upscale Foggy Bottom neighbourhood would be ceremonially renamed “Jamal Khashoggi Way”.

Khashoggi, a US resident, was murdered in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in October.

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After initially denying the murder, Saudi Arabia has acknowledged Khashoggi was killed inside the consulate but blamed his death on a “rogue” operation.

Top officials from the administration of President Donald Trump insist they have seen no direct evidence linking the murder to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, but the CIA reportedly has found a connection.

According to CNN, the idea to change the street’s name started about a month ago following an online petition.

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“We suggest renaming the street address of the Saudi embassy into Jamal Khashoggi Way to be a daily reminder to Saudi officials” that such killings are “totally unacceptable and as an expression of Washington’s unstinting support for freedom of the press”, the petition states.

A similar action was taken outside the Russian embassy, where a street was this year renamed in honour of prominent Vladimir Putin critic Boris Nemtsov, who was assassinated in Moscow in 2015.