Arab league celebrates Riyadh as "the capital of Arab media" despite Khashoggi murder

A delegation from the General Secretariat of the Arab League will participate in a conference called "Riyadh, the Capital of Arab Media" to be organised by the Saudi Ministry of Media in the presence of senior officials. 

The event to be held on Wednesday comes after the decision of the Arab Ministers of Information last May to select Riyadh as the "Arab Media Capital" for 2018-2019,  according to a statement issued by Media and Communication Sector of the Arab League.

The announcement is likely to be controversial due to the murder of Jamal Khashoggi, a Saudi journalist and contributor to The Washington Post, who was killed shortly after entering Saudi consulate in Istanbul on October 2.  The Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is widely believed to have ordered the murder. 

Khashoggi’s gruesome killing has damaged Riyadh's international reputation and western countries including the United States, France and Canada have placed sanctions on nearly 20 Saudi nationals.

Last week he was named Time magazine's "Person of the Year" on, an honour he shared with other persecuted journalists dubbed as "guardians" of the truth.

According to the statement by the Arab League, the meeting will discuss enhancing the Committee's roles in the "implementation of activities in the Plan of Action of Arab Information Strategy."