Jamal Khashoggi: Saudi crown prince ‘denies knowledge’ of missing critic

Saudi Arabia’s powerful Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman has denied knowing what happened to the missing Saudi journalist, Jamal Khashoggi, according to President Donald Trump.

Saudi Arabia being blamed was a case of “guilty until proven innocent”, Mr Trump told the AP news agency.

Unnamed Turkish officials say a search of the Istanbul Saudi consulate gave more evidence Mr Khashoggi was killed.

The issue has put Saudi Arabia under pressure from close allies.

The journalist, a critic of the Saudi leadership, was last seen alive entering the consulate on 2 October. Saudi Arabia has denied killing him and initially said he left the building unharmed.

What has Prince Mohammed said?

The Saudi heir apparent wields considerable power in the kingdom and is being held responsible by many outside for whatever happened to Mr Khashoggi.

Mr Trump tweeted that Prince Mohammed had spoken to him on the phone and he “totally denied any knowledge of what took place in their Turkish Consulate”.

The president said he “told me that he has already started, and will rapidly expand, a full and complete investigation into this matter. Answers will be forthcoming shortly”.

The phone call coincided with a visit to Saudi Arabia by US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, sent there by Mr Trump to deal with the crisis in relations.

On Monday, Mr Trump speculated that “rogue killers” may have been behind the journalist’s disappearance.

In a further sign of disquiet within the US, a leading Republican senator and defender of US-Saudi links, Lindsey Graham, has been highly critical of the Saudi crown prince.

“This guy’s gotta go,” he said on Tuesday morning on Fox News, describing Prince Mohammed as a “wrecking ball”.

Reputations may be forever tainted

By Frank Gardner, BBC News

The recent, highly charged exchange of words between Washington and Riyadh now appears to have given way to a mutual search for the least bad explanation. Both countries’ leaders know they have an enormous amount to lose if this affair ends up splitting apart their 73-year-old strategic partnership.

Iran, as the regional rival to Saudi Arabia, would be the prime beneficiary if the Saudis were to lose their defensive US umbrella. President Trump is also correct when he says thousands of US jobs would be lost, with China and Russia to be among those lining up to replace them.

Which begs the wider question: is the West’s relationship with Saudi Arabia so important that it outweighs the need to condemn and punish what many believe was a state-sponsored murder of a journalist inside a consulate?

Hence the urgent dispatching of the US secretary of state for talks with the Saudi leadership. In private there may well be some strong words, in public both countries may want to present a united stand. But one thing is certain: whatever narrative emerges, the international reputation of the Saudi crown prince and power-behind-the-throne Mohammed Bin Salman will forever be tainted by this affair.

What is the state of investigation?

A search was due to be conducted on Tuesday of the consul’s residence, some 200 metres away from the consulate.

But that has now been delayed because no Saudi official can be present for what has been billed as a joint investigation, Turkish officials say.

The consul, Mohammad al-Otaibi, left Turkey on a commercial flight bound for Saudi Arabia earlier in the day.

On the day of Mr Khashoggi’s disappearance, several vehicles with Saudi diplomatic number plates were seen on video footage moving from the consulate to the residence.

Meanwhile, Turkish investigators quoted by two news agencies say Monday’s search of the consulate has yielded more evidence that Mr Khashoggi was killed there.