*RIYADH: Once feted on the world stage, Saudi Arabia’s powerful crownprince faces the cold shoulder abroad as he struggles to shrug off thelingering stigma of a critical journalist’s murder.*
Prince Mohammed bin Salman has been on an Arab tour before he attends theGroup of 20 summit in Argentina on Friday, where he faces world leaders whohave strongly condemned Jamal Khashoggi’s killing last month in thekingdom’s Istanbul consulate.
The country’s de facto ruler has brushed aside the international pressure,attempting to use the overseas visits — followed by a whirlwind domestictour –- to shore up his tarnished reputation and reinforce relationshipswith allies.
“The question is who among global leaders will agree to stand with himpublicly,” said H.A. Hellyer, a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council andthe Royal United Services Institute in London.
“I suspect his appearances will be carefully staged to avoid embarrassment.”
The prince faces the grim prospect of being treated as an “outcast” by someleaders at the two-day G-20 summit, said Bessma Momani, a professor atCanada’s University of Waterloo.
“Group photos may be unavoidable, but liberal democratic leaders fromcountries such as Germany and Canada will not want to be seen shaking hishand,” Momani said.
Former Spanish King Juan Carlos faced scathing domestic criticism over hishandshake with the prince in Abu Dhabi, his first stop in a regional tourwhich also included close allies Bahrain and Egypt as well as Tunisia.
An image of the laughter-filled encounter at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix lastSunday was dubbed by a conservative Spanish daily as “the photo of shame”.
But the 33-year-old prince, widely known as MBS, used the regional tour assomething of a victory lap after US President Donald Trump — who haspraised Saudi Arabia as a “truly spectacular ally” — threw his weightbehind him.
Trump’s emphatic support came despite the Central Intelligence Agency’sreported assessment that the prince –- who controls all major levers ofpower in the Saudi government — was behind the killing.
“It should come as no surprise that allies like Trump, China’s Xi (Jinping)and Russia’s (Vladimir) Putin will have no qualms in signalling that theyare absolutely fine to continue doing business with MBS,” said Momani.*Frosty reception*
But some officials in the prince’s entourage are bracing for a frostyreception at the G-20 summit.
Ahead of the prince’s visit, Human Rights Watch urged Argentine prosecutorsto consider bringing criminal charges against Prince Mohammed over allegedwar crimes in a brutal Saudi-led war in Yemen and his possible complicityin Khashoggi’s murder.
It was unclear whether Argentine prosecutors would act on the request.
Trump also faces growing pressure from US lawmakers, some of whom aredemanding a probe into his financial ties to determine whether thepresident has any vested interest in backing the kingdom.
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US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Pentagon chief Jim Mattis were tobrief American senators Wednesday on Saudi Arabia amid mounting bipartisanconcern about the kingdom.
The prince’s supporters fear that world leaders could leverage his weakenedinternational position to gain concessions from the kingdom, as itstruggles with a slump in oil prices.
The prince is expected to meet Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, whohas kept international pressure mounting on the kingdom by saying theorders for Khashoggi’s killing came from “the highest levels” of the Saudigovernment.
“In the event Erdogan meets with MBS on the sidelines of G-20, it will beindicative that some sort of a deal has been reached, which could includeGulf reconciliation and concrete steps on how to wind down the war inYemen,” said Sigurd Neubauer, a Middle East analyst based in Washington.
“However, a potential Saudi-Turkish deal is unlikely to shield MBS from USCongressional investigations into the Khashoggi murder.”
*‘He’s here to stay’*
In a foretaste of expected acrimony at G-20, the prince faced hundreds ofprotesters Tuesday during a brief stopover in Tunisia, with many shouting“Go away assassin!” and some clutching red-stained chain saws -– areference to Khashoggi’s gruesome murder.
The hostility stands in stark contrast to the prince’s month-long tour ofthe United States earlier this year, where he received something of arockstar reception and hobnobbed with business titans such as Disney chiefBob Iger and Apple’s Tim Cook.
In PR-slicked campaigns, the crown prince had marketed himself as aliberaliser seeking to remake his state, while amassing power to a degreeunseen by previous rulers.
The global fallout over the killing of Khashoggi, a Washington Postcolumnist critical of the prince, appears to have torpedoed that effort.
But it has not so far has threatened to unseat the prince amid histightening grip on military and security agencies and a ruthless crackdownon political rivals.
The prince’s supporters say the fact that he stepped out of the kingdomamid a crisis is an indication that he is firmly in control.
“The prince is trying to show his domestic and international audience thathe’s leaving the palace and confident he’ll return to control it,” saidMomani. – APP/AFP
