Jamal Khashoggi, known for building Saudi Arabia's al-Watan into a voice for the country's progressives, has resigned as editor-in-chief of the newspaper, BBC News reported today. "There is speculation that Mr. Khashoggi had been forced to resign," as he had "clashed with the authorities before with articles on the religious police and women's rights," the article stated.

Many have speculated that Khashoggi's departure from al-Watan is a sign of what is to come for Saudi Arabia and the Middle East at large: a much less free press, and with it, a roadblock for the growth of media.

Photo: Agence France-Presse

al-Watan said Khashoggi resigned to pursue other personal plans, but several Arab news outlets reported he was "fired because of articles in al-Watan criticizing Saudi Arabia's conservative application of Islam and the religious police who enforce adherence to it," The Associated Press reported.

Since the announcement of Khashoggi's departure was made on Saturday - to the surprise of staffers, who were preparing to attend the editor's wedding that same day - there has been "huge online speculation about the reasons behind what could be the 'sudden death' of a wave of unprecedented journalistic freedom which has lasted far longer than many people expected," Faisal Abbas, a Middle East affairs specialist, wrote for the Huffington Post.

He continued: "However, the newspaper went through a major re-structuring process within the last 2 years (which Khashoggi was overseeing along with other senior executives), this means that Al Watan is equipped to carry on with its progress, particularly as it is set to become part of a much bigger media group after its owning company and partners (a.k.a the 'Alif Alif' Coalition) won a bid for Saudi Arabia's first commercial broadcasting licence."

In the late 1980s and early 1990s, Khashoggi interviewed and traveled with Osama bin Laden, even trying to persuade the al-Qaida leader to reconcile with Saudi Arabia's royal family and return to his home in Sudan.