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RIYAD, Saudi Arabia – Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman called the journalist murderous journalist Jamal Khashoggi hideous and gave a conciliatory tone to Turkey as part of its most energetic attempt to emerge from the crisis and improve its relations with the United States and Ankara.
Prince Mohammed, in his first public remarks on the death of Mr. Khashoggi in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, pledged Wednesday to cooperate with the Turkish authorities, while his kingdom is facing a global response more to this assassination.
The comments and the appeal between the 33-year-old Turkish Prince Recep Tayyip Erdogan aimed to quell a growing diplomatic storm over the involvement of Turkish leaders in the Saudi leadership in the journalist's murder by media leaks.
"The incident that occurred is very painful for all the Saudis," said Prince Mohammed at a conference in Riyadh. "It's a hideous and totally unjustifiable incident."
President Trump has entrusted Congress with the responsibility to respond to the assassination of Jamal Khashoggi in a Saudi consulate in Turkey. Gerald F. Seib of the WSJ explains. Photo: Getty
A Western official based in the Persian Gulf said that Prince Mohammed delivered a message: "The Turks and we can find an agreement."
"They had no choice," said the official, referring to the Saudis. "They are in a corner and they have to be accommodating. They can not afford to fight back. "
The United States has taken diplomatic measures, including the revocation of visas, against 21 Saudi officials suspected of involvement in the journalist's murder. Other sanctions may follow, including financial penalties for perpetrators of human rights violations, an opportunity raised by US lawmakers.
The prince said he would not let the incident "make its way" between Turkey – one of the most powerful military forces in the region – and Saudi Arabia. "This gap will not happen," he said, participating in a panel at the Future Investment Initiative, a Saudi business conference dubbed "Davos in the desert." Many Western leaders boycotted the event following the death of Mr. Khashoggi.
Prince Mohammed also met on Tuesday with Mr. Khashoggi's son, Salah, to express his condolences.
After Mr. Khashoggi left the kingdom last year, the Saudi government banned his son from leaving the country. It was unclear whether the government lifted the travel ban on the son following the death of his father.
The Crown Prince announced Wednesday that Saudi Arabia would cooperate with the Turkish authorities to carry out the investigation and bring those responsible to justice. "We will show the world that the two governments are cooperating to punish all criminals and criminals, and that justice will end up being followed," he said.
In a telephone conversation, Prince Mohammed and Erdogan discussed the necessary measures that the two countries would jointly take to resolve Mr. Khashoggi's case, according to a statement by the Saudi government and Turkish state media.
Prince Mohammed's comments came after Erdogan on Tuesday denied Saudi explanations that Mr. Khashoggi was accidentally killed in a fight at the consulate, accusing the Saudi authorities of being the most accused.
To add to the pressure on Prince Mohammed, President Trump said on Tuesday that he did not rule out the King's possible involvement.
"He's running things and if anybody wants to do it, it'll be him," he told The Wall Street Journal.
The Trump administration has demanded answers about Khashoggi's death, while defending US-Saudi relations.
A US official said Prince Mohammed in his Wednesday appearance appeared to be trying to reconcile a recognition of international condemnation with a sign of confidence as to his place as his father's alleged successor.
While members of the Saudi royal family who served in the United States recognize the seriousness of the situation, relatives of the Saudi prince are "more certain that it will happen," said the official.
The State Department did not react to the public appearance of Prince Mohammed. At the same time, Gina Haspel, director of the Central Intelligence Agency, who visited Turkey this week as part of an administrative investigation, was due to return to Washington on Thursday.
The Khashoggi crisis has become the latest hotspot between Turkey and Saudi Arabia, which are competing for influence in the Middle East. Tensions increased after Turkey's support to Qatar last year after Saudi Arabia and its closest regional allies broke off diplomatic relations and launched an economic embargo on the small emirate.
They also oppose Turkey's sympathetic view of the Muslim Brotherhood, the most powerful Islamist movement in the region, which Saudi Arabia regards as a terrorist organization.
Prince Mohammed congratulated the country's economy on Wednesday, noting that Saudi Arabia's tough stance on Qatar was likely to abate. A comment by the Saudi Ministry of Information was intended to broadcast "a powerful message about regional unity".
Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri, left, and United Arab Emirates Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammad bin Rashed, right, attend Wednesday the second day of a conference in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Photo:
Amr Nabil / Associated Press
There is no indication that the Saudi monarch is ready to dismiss his son, in defiance of the Turkish pressure campaign that has leaked evidence to maximize damage to the reputation of the kingdom. Erdogan insisted on Tuesday that senior officials should also be held accountable.
The Saudi government has repeatedly stated that Prince Mohammed was unaware of the operation and King Salman instructed his son to rehabilitate the Saudi intelligence services, indicating that he would not suffer direct impact. So far, the Saudi authorities have arrested 18 men linked to the death and dismissed two senior officials close to the Crown Prince.
Since Prince Mohammed was catapulted into a position of authority almost unparalleled with the rise of his father on the throne in 2015, he is at the origin of some of the kingdom's greatest mutations , at home and abroad.
He pledged to redo Saudi Arabia's economy by reducing its reliance on oil revenues and to promote social change, including the lifting of the driving ban on women. He also oversaw some high-risk foreign policy measures, including a war in Yemen and a blockade on neighboring Qatar, as well as apparent efforts to force the resignation of Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri.
On Wednesday, the prince spoke alongside Mr. Hariri as a sign of confidence.
In Saudi Arabia, Hariri resigned from his post last year under pressure from the Saudi government, the longtime boss of the Hariri family. He subsequently canceled his resignation after the intervention of France and other Western countries.
The incident provoked accusations that the Saudi government effectively abducted Mr. Hariri to force him to resign.
"Prime Minister Saad is going to be here for two days, so please, no rumors that he is kidnapped," joked Prince Mohammed at the end of the round table.
-David Gauthier-Villars
in Istanbul, Summer Said in Dubai and Nancy A. Youssef in Washington
contributed to this article.
Write to Margherita Stancati at [email protected]
