Manama: Saudi Arabia has warned criticism of Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Salman is a “red line”, after Donald Trump heaped praise on the kingdom in defiance of warnings he was giving Riyadh a pass on a journalist’s grisly murder.
Saudi Foreign Minister Adel Al Jubeir said on Wednesday that calls for the crown prince to be held accountable for the grisly killing of Jamal Khashoggi would not be tolerated.
His comments came as the US president praised Saudi Arabia for keeping oil prices low - one strand of his argument against punishing Riyadh even though the CIA reportedly found strong evidence that the crown prince, the de facto Saudi leader, was involved in the murder.
“In Saudi Arabia our leadership is a red line. The custodian of the two holy mosques (King Salman) and the crown prince are a red line,” Al Jubeir told the BBC and CNBC’s Hadley Gamble on Wednesday.
“They represent every Saudi citizen and every Saudi citizen represents them. And we will not tolerate any discussion of anything that is disparaging towards our monarch or our crown prince.”
“The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is unified on this issue, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is committed to its leadership, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is committed to the vision that our leaders have put forth for us in terms of Vision 2030 and in terms of moving along the path of reform,” Al Jubeir said.
“And we will continue to move in spite of what people may or may not say.”
Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister has dismissed reports that some Saudi princes were gathering support to prevent Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Salman from becoming king following the uproar that followed by the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
“I say that’s ridiculous. That’s way out of line. The leadership of Saudi Arabia represented in the king and the crown prince is a red line for every Saudi - man or woman,” Adel Al Jubeir told
“The country is totally supportive of them. Every Saudi feels represented by his leadership, and every Saudi represents his leadership. These are outrageous comments that are being made and are totally unacceptable.”
Khashoggi was killed on October 2 at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul where he walked in to obtain documents for his wedding.
Saudi Arabia launched an investigation and last week the public prosecution issued its third statement on the case in which it gave details about how the murder took place.
Allegations in the West linked the murder to Crown Prince Mohammad, but Saudi officials have vigorously denied claims that he had knowledge of the operation and blamed the murder on the decision and action of rogue agents.
Saudi Arabia has arrested 21 suspects and indicted 11 of them. The public prosecution requested the death penalty for five of them.
Khashoggi, a US resident who wrote for The Washington Post and had been critical of Prince Mohammad, was was murdered in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on October 2, killed and reportedly dismembered.
After lengthy denials, Saudi authorities admitted responsibility and said 21 people had been taken into custody.
But Trump, on holiday at his Florida Mar-a-Lago Club on Wednesday, doubled down on a statement from Tuesday that he was essentially ignoring the killing of Khashoggi because of what he said were more important US strategic and commercial interest
“Oil prices getting lower. Great! Like a big Tax Cut for America and the World. Enjoy! $54, was just $82,” he tweeted. “Thank you to Saudi Arabia, but let’s go lower!”
Al Jubeir insisted that Prince Mohammad had not been involved in the killing.
“We have made that very clear. We have investigations ongoing and we will punish the individuals who are responsible for this,” he said.
He called on Turkey to come forward with all its evidence about the slaying and stop leaking out information. The foreign minister said the murder was a “rogue operation” by intelligence officers.
Al Jubeir also said any possible US sanctions on Saudi Arabia would be short-sighted.
-With inputs from AFP
