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Kevin Sullivan
Senior Correspondent for National and International Affairs
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia – In his first public comments since the assassination of journalist Jamal Khashoggi by Saudi security agents in Istanbul three weeks ago, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said on Wednesday that his country is doing its utmost to carry out an investigation and bring those responsible to justice.
S addressing more than 3,000 business leaders from around the world at the Future Investment Initiative, Saudi Arabia's main economic forum, often called "Davos in the desert," Mohammed n & # 39; 39, acknowledged no responsibility in this case. He described the murder as "a heinous crime" that was "very painful for all the Saudis" and for "every human being in the world".
He accused unidentified critics of trying to use the case to "clear up any confusion" between Saudi Arabia and Turkey and promised that it would not happen as long as his father would be king and that he would be the crown prince.
[Trump says Saudis engaged in ‘worst coverup ever’ as U.S. imposes penalties]
The assassination of Khashoggi, a major critic of the young Crown Prince, eclipsed the highly publicized conference, intended to highlight Muhammad's desire to modernize the kingdom's economy and diversify away from oil.
As Khashoggi's death on October 2nd continued to reverberate, Mohammed's remarks were eagerly awaited here and drew a packed house in the main auditorium, a vast auditorium with vaulted doors adorned with the Saudi symbol of crossed swords and dances. ;a palm.
Mohammed, the country's de facto leader, is widely believed to have ordered the covert operation against a man who frequently criticized him as a columnist for the Washington Post.
Mahomet made his comments Wednesday in Arabic in response to a question from the moderator, while he participated in a round table with the leaders of Bahrain and Lebanon on economic and financial issues.
"There is no doubt that cooperation between the Saudi and Turkish governments is unique today and that many are trying to use this painful thing to create a gap between Saudi Arabia and Turkey", did he declare. "I want to send them a message: they will not be able to do it as long as there will be a king named Salman bin Abdul Aziz and a Crown Prince named Mohammed bin Salman in Saudi Arabia and a President in Turkey called [Recep Tayyip] Erdogan. His references to his father and to himself were interrupted by applause in the room.
[Turkish police to search well at consulate where Khashoggi was killed]
Lebanese Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri, who resigned last year while on his way to Riyadh, was reportedly placed immediately to his right. It is generally thought that he was arrested by the Saudis in the context of a wider conflict. Hariri then revoked his resignation and returned to Beirut.
At the end of the roundtable, Mohammed alluded to the case, jokingly claiming that the Lebanese Prime Minister was going to be in Saudi Arabia for two days and that any story about him being "kidnapped" should be ignored .
Saudi government officials have radically changed the official story of what happened to Khashoggi, whose death provoked outrage from the international community. His remains are still missing and Turkish officials said Saudi agents had dismembered his body, horrible detail that added to horror and condemnation.
For more than two weeks after Khashoggi's disappearance while he was going to the consulate to obtain documents relating to his planned marriage, Saudi officials insisted that he had left the mission alive and that they had no information about where he was.
Early Saturday, the Saudi government acknowledged in an official statement in the middle of the night that Khashoggi had been killed inside the consulate by Saudi agents as part of a "rogue" operation that had resulted in a deadly fight.
The Saudi version of the events keeps the blame away from Mohammed, who has consolidated tremendous power since last year, when he was appointed heir to the throne currently held by his father, King Salman.
[After Khashoggi’s killing, Turkey’s leader seeks to weaken Saudi Arabia’s powerful crown prince]
Instead, the Saudis fired five people, including senior intelligence officers and aides close to Mohammed, and arrested 18 others.
The United States on Tuesday announced its first concrete step to penalize Saudi Arabia by canceling the visas of the agents involved in the killing. President Trump said he would "let Congress decide to take further action against the kingdom, the United States' key ally in the Middle East and a vast market for US arms manufacturers.
Mohammed spoke Wednesday to an audience dominated by the Saudis, who responded with 18 applause, including a long ovation. He spoke of positive economic figures for exports, wages, unemployment, culture and entertainment spending – and participants scattered after almost all the statistics to applaud their leader.
He mentioned that $ 50 billion of agreements were reached on Tuesday the first day of the conference and that the crowd applauded. He complimented Dubai. Applause. Kuwait. Applause. Egypt, applause. Jordan. Applause. He even mentioned Qatar, the rival of Saudi Arabia, accused by many Saudi commentators of having participated in the murder of Khashoggi. "Despite our differences," said Mohammed, to more applause.
His comments during the 50-minute discussion were primarily an inspiring call for the Middle East to become a bigger player in the world.
"I think the new Europe is the Middle East," he said.
He predicted a "renaissance in the next 30 years" in the Middle East and compared making the region a leader in economic and social innovation to a war.
"It's my war, which I personally launched," he said. "I do not want to leave this life without seeing the Middle East at the forefront of the world." For this, he received a sustained ovation.
Subsequently, most people approached by a Post reporter declined to comment.
A Saudi man started talking, but his leader later warned that company policy forbade talking to the media. But he let the young man comment without giving his name.
"It was incredible," he said. "It gives us so much confidence in all the good numbers that are happening. It gives you faith to come back to your office and work even harder.
Asked about the Prince's comments on Khashoggi, the man said he was happy that Mohammed had addressed the issue.
"As a human being, we reject everything that has happened," he said. "And we know that the government will do its best to solve it. Everyone is happy with what he said.
The conference, in an opulent Ritz-Carlton conference center, was boycotted by dozens of sponsors and senior executives, including JPMorgan Chase's Jamie Dimon, Blackstone's Stephen Schwarzman and AOL founder Steve Case.
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin canceled his participation in the conference, but he still went to Riyadh and met Mohammed on Monday.
Nevertheless, Saudi officials announced Monday that at least $ 50 billion in deals had been reached at the conference, including a number with well-known US companies such as Halliburton.
The large corridors of the conference center are filled with executives from the Middle East, China, Russia, Europe and the United States. Many have said that the economic and security ties between the United States and Saudi Arabia are too strong to be defeated by Khashoggi's death.
[Mnuchin meets with crown prince despite outcry over journalist’s death]
Eric Cantor, vice president and general manager of New York-based investment bank Moelis, was among the top executives who spoke at the conference on Wednesday. Bank chief executive Ken Moelis spoke at the conference on Tuesday. HSBC Global Banking & Markets Managing Director Samir Assaf spoke at a panel on Wednesday.
Khashoggi largely dominated the conference, but he was mentioned publicly only once or twice. Leading Saudi business leader Lubna Olayan opened the conference on Tuesday with a statement expressing gratitude to those present and saying that Khashoggi's death was "foreign to our culture and DNA".
Also Tuesday, Saudi Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih said the killing was "heinous".
"As we all know, these are difficult days for us in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia," he said. "No one in the kingdom can justify it or explain it. From the management, we are very unhappy with what happened. "
Branigin reported from Washington.
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