If the long predatory reach of Saudi extra-judicial malice can murder an internationally renowned journalist in a foreign country, what hope is there for an 18-year-old who’s embarrassed the Kingdom?Rahaf Mohammed — as of Monday, she is no longer using the family surname Alqunun — is no Jamal Khashoggi, nephew of a billionaire arms dealer, former editor in Saudi Arabia and columnist-in-exile for the Washington Post when he was assassinated by Saudi agents inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul last Oct. 2, the remains of his dismembered body never found.Yet the teenager riveted the world last week, tweeting desperately for help from a barricaded airport hotel room in Bangkok, fearing for her life, terrified that Thailand officials would cave to Saudi demands that she be put on a plane and returned to the family she’d clandestinely fled while they’d been on holiday in Kuwait.It was on the final day of that vacation, Rahaf said yesterday during an hour-long interview with the Star and the CBC. Her last chance for a bid at freedom. Waited till everyone was asleep, booked a flight to Bangkok, and was gone by 7 a.m. before the family awoke. Read more:With tears and trepidation, Saudi teen embraces newfound freedomOpinion | Martin Regg Cohn: Canada faces a war on all fronts over refugee rights and wrongsGranted asylum in Canada, Saudi teen ‘happy to be in her new home’Had hoped to find refuge in Australia but immigration officials were dragging their feet. Didn’t have a visa – all her papers had been taken away by a man who’d met her flight, holding up a sign with her name on it, claiming to be with the Thai government, there to assist. He wasn’t and didn’t, as Rahaf was whisked away to the hotel. With Australia’s foreign minister claiming Rafah should not be treated differently from anybody else applying for refugee admission, Canada stepped in on Friday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau annou ...
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