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RIYADH (Reuters) – Saudi Arabia's powerful Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman vowed on Wednesday that the killers of Jamal Khashoggi would be brought to justice, in his first comments after the journalist's murder sparked global condemnation.
Striking a defiant tone, Prince Mohammed told international investors at a major conference in Riyadh that the furore over Khashoggi's killing at the consulate in Istanbul would not derail the kingdom's reform drive.
His comments came from the United States President Donald Trump was quoted by the Wall Street Journal as saying that Saudi Arabia's de facto ruler, the crown prince bore ultimate responsibility for the operation to Khashoggi's death.
"We will prove to the world that the two governments (Saudi and Turkish) are cooperating to punish any criminal, any culprit and justice will prevail," Prince Mohammed said to applause.
The world's top oil export has come under the influence of Khashoggi, a columnist and one of the crown's most prominent critics.
The crisis has strained Riyadh's ties with the west and led dozens of Western politicians, top world bankers and company executives to boycott the conference that opened in Riyadh on Tuesday.
Saudi Arabia first denied any involvement in Khashoggi's disappearance after he entered the consulate but a Saudi official finally attributed his death on Oct. 2 to a botched attempt to return him to the kingdom. Turkey has dismissed Saudi efforts to blame rogue operatives and urged the kingdom to search "top to bottom" for those responsible.
STRAINED TIES
Prince Mohammed said Saudi Arabia and Turkey would work together "to reach results".
"The incident is very painful, for all Saudis … The incident is not justifiable," the crown prince said.
Erdogan spoke to Prince Muhammad on Wednesday and reported on the steps of Khashoggi's death, a presidential source said.
But in the bluntest sign yet of strained ties, one of Erdogan's advisers wrote in a newspaper that Prince Mohammed had "blood on his hands".
Saudi authorities did not respond to a request for comment on the remarks by Trump or 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 in Turkey," he said.
"Salam bin Abdulaziz and a crown prince named Mohammed bin Salman in Saudi Arabia, and a president in Turkey named Erdogan."
In his comments to the Wall Street Journal, Trump said he wanted to believe Prince Mohammed when he said lower level officials were to blame for Khashoggi's death. But the U.S. president suggests responsibility lay higher up.
"Well, the prince is running things over there, he is doing this, he's running things and so anybody was going to be, it would be him," Trump said.
It could be said that it would have sanctions against Saudi Arabia if its intelligence services established that the kingdom was behind.
"DO NOT SPREAD RUMORS"
The Future Investment Initiative conference in Riyadh was overshadowed by Khashoggi's killing, with more than two dozen high-level participants withdrawing.
But Saudi Arabia showed it could still be business despite the furore, signing deals worth $ 50 billion at the conference on Tuesday. The event was attended by hundreds of bankers and company executives.
Prince Mohammed, 33, Saudi Arabia's de facto ruler and architect of its reform drive, was upbeat on the economy, predicting growth of 2.5 percent this year.
He has been appointed to the Bahrain Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad al-Khalifa and Lebanon Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri. He joked about Hariri's detention in the kingdom last year, saying the Lebanese Prime Minister was free to leave after attending the conference.
"Prime Minister Saad is staying in the kingdom for two days so I hope you do not spread rumors that he was kidnapped," Prince Mohammed, who is also known as MbS, said.
Hariri, who has Saudi Arabia, was summoned to Riyadh a year ago, briefly detained and compelled to resign a prime minister in Saudi Arabia. Hariri was verbally humiliated and beaten, according to Saudi Arabia, Arab and Western diplomatic sources.
ECONOMIC REFORM DRIVE
The Saudi central bank governor sought to secure the banks of the country, which they would not be penalized and may apply for licenses to operate in the country, the Middle East's largest economy.
So far there have been no announcements at the conference, in stark contrast to last year's announcement that plans to build a $ 500 billion mega-city.
During the panel MbS touted Saudi Arabia's success in its efforts to transform its oil-dependent economy and make the conservative kingdom a more tolerant society.
"All our projects are going ahead, we are going ahead, our war on terrorism is going ahead … we are not going anywhere," he said.
Despite the boycott of the investment conference by big hitters, Wall Street, some senior international bankers from HSBC and Japan's biggest lender MUFG attended.
Lucid Motors chief technology officer Peter Rawlinson was also present and the U.S. company had a dedicated booth at the venue. In September Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund agreed to invest more than $ 1 billion in Lucid as part of Saudi efforts to diversify the oil-dependent economy.
(Additional reporting by Rania El Gamal in Riyadh, Ezgi Erkoyun, Ali Kucukgocmen and Ezgi Erkoyun in Istanbul, Editing by William Maclean, David Stamp and Jon Boyle)
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