Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince on October 24 denounced the murder of critic Jamal Khashoggi as a “heinous crime”, insisting the kingdom was cooperating with Turkish authorities and “justice will prevail”.
“The crime was very painful to all Saudis. And it is painful, heinous to every human being in the world,” Prince Mohammed bin Salman said in his first comments since the murder of the journalist.
“Those behind this crime will be held accountable... in the end justice will prevail,” he said during an address to the Future Investment Initiative Forum in Riyadh.
Saudi leaders have denied involvement in Khashoggi’s murder inside Saudi Arabia’s Istanbul consulate on October 2, pushing responsibility down the chain of command.
But the kingdom is under mounting international pressure over the killing amid U.S. accusations of a monumental cover-up by the kingdom.
“Many are trying to exploit the Khashoggi affair to drive a wedge between Saudi Arabia and Turkey,” said the Crown Prince. “But they will not succeed as long as there is a King named Salman and a Crown Prince named Mohammed bin Salman.”
Hours earlier U.S. President Donald Trump, in his toughest comments yet, told the Wall Street Journal that the Crown Prince bore ultimate responsibility for the operation that led to Khashoggi’s killing.
Mr. Trump said he wanted to believe Prince Mohammed when he said that lower level officials were to blame for the killing at the Saudi mission. But he suggested responsibility lay higher up: “Well, the Prince is running things over there more so at this stage. He’s running things and so if anybody were going to be, it would be him.”
His comments heaped pressure on his close ally amid a global outcry over the journalist’s death,.
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan spoke to Prince Mohammed on Wednesday and the two discussed the steps needed to bring to light all aspects of the killing of Khashoggi, a presidential source said.
An adviser to Turkey’s president said Prince Mohammed had “blood on his hands” over Khashoggi, the bluntest language yet from someone linked to Erdogan.
