After a massive boycott, Uber's director apologizes for his comments on Khashoggi's death

After a campaign on the social networking site "Twitter" demanding a boycott of the US company "Uber" smart transportation services, following the statements of its CEO about the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, forced its CEO Dara Khosraoshi apologize.

The #BoycottUber (Top Uber boycott) tagged Twitter on Twitter after Khosroushahi likened Khashoggi to the murder of Khashoggi in a self-driving car.

Khosroushahi apologized for calling Khashoggi's assassination a "mistake" and wrote on Twitter: "There is no tolerance or forgetting what happened to Jamal Khashoggi and I was not right as a mistake."

"I said something at that moment that I don't believe in. Our contributors have known my views here for a long time, and I'm sorry I was not so clear with Axios."

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said earlier that the murder of journalist Khashoggi took place while he was in power, which puts him in a position of responsibility, but stressed that it took place without his knowledge.

Saudi Arabia, through its sovereign wealth fund, is the fifth largest shareholder in Uber, and fund manager Yasser Al-Rumayyan is a member of the board.

`` I think the government said it made a mistake, '' Khosroushahi said on Sunday in the interview, comparing to a fatal accident in the Uber autonomous car that killed a pedestrian in March 2018.

"I think people are making mistakes, and that does not mean they can never be forgiven," Khosroushahi said after a reporter asked Axios about the comparison between an assassination and a traffic accident.

The journalist confirmed that the Executive Director called him shortly after the interview to express his "regret about the language he used" regarding Khashoggi's crime.

Uber's comments caused an uproar in the United States. Karen Attia, a Washington Post journalist who worked with Khashoggi before his death, cited "sick and sad ridicule" for comparing Khosrachai between "a murder of a human being and a technical flaw committed by Uber."

She said on Twitter that Khashoggi did not own a car when he arrived in the United States and used the Uber service to navigate, but accused the company of giving more value to the Saudi money than human life, and wondered why to keep a Saudi official on its board.

"If a major shareholder in Uber kills someone, it is not really important. A representative of a murderous regime could retain a seat on the board."

Khosroushahi played down Saudi Arabia's role in Uber. "They are like any other shareholder," they invest in an IPO, and "they are a big investor and you could be a big investor," he said.

Uber's IPO was in May, but the start was disappointing for investors, with the share price dropping to $ 27 on Monday, compared with $ 42.

Former CEO and co-founder Travis Calanick sold 21 percent of his shares for about $ 547 million, documents showed on Friday.