Saudi crown prince breaks silence on 'painful' Khashoggi case



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RIYADH / ISTANBUL: Saudi Arabia's Prince Mohammed bin Crown Salman promised on Wednesday that the killers of Jamal Khashoggi would be brought to justice, in his first comments after the journalist's murder sparked international condemnation.

Prince Mohammed told a major investment conference in Riyadh that Saudi Arabia and Turkey would work together "to reach results" we have joined investigation into the killing.

"The incident that happened is very painful, for all Saudis … The incident is not justifiable," the crown prince said on a discussion panel. "Justice in the end will appear."

He described cooperation between Riyadh and Ankara as "special" despite fierce criticism from Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan and his aides.

Hours earlier US President Donald Trump, in his toughest comments yet, told the Wall Street Journal that the crown prince bore the ultimate responsibility for the operation to the Saudi journalist's killing.

Trump said he wanted to believe Prince Mohammed when he said that lower level officials were to blame for the Oct. 2 killing at the Saudi mission.

But he suggests responsibility lay higher up: "Well, the prince is running things over there, he is doing this.

His comments have been published on the subject of a global review of the journalist's death, and came hours before Prince Mohammed's appearance at the Saudi investment conference.

A number of high profile business and political figures have been drawn from the conference of the death of the journalist, a prominent critic of Saudi Arabia de facto ruler.

Erdogan spoke to Prince Muhammad on Wednesday, and said, "The steps of Khashoggi, a presidential source said.

Turkish criticism


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.

Saudi authorities did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the remarks by Trump and the Erdogan adviser but Prince Mohammed painted a different picture of relations with Turkey.

"There are now those who are trying to take advantage of the painful situation to create divisions between the kingdom and Turkey," he said.

"I want to send them a message that they can not do this as long as King Salman is here, and the Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is in Saudi Arabia and the head of Turkey, whose name is Erdogan … this division will not happen. "

Riyadh has blamed a "rogue operation" for the death of the prominent Saudi journalist and said the crown prince had no knowledge of the killing.

The death of Khashoggi, a US resident and Washington post columnist, has sparked global outrage and threatened relations between Riyadh and Washington as well as other Western nations.

For Saudi Arabia allies, Prince Mohammed, who has painted himself as a reformer, has any culpability in the killing, has a chance of several US lawmakers.

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