LONDON: Saudi Arabia has warned criticism of Crown Prince Mohammed binSalman is a “red line” after Donald Trump heaped praise on the kingdom indefiance of warnings he was giving Riyadh a pass on a journalist’s grislymurder.
Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir said on Wednesday that calls for thecrown prince to be held accountable for the grisly killing of JamalKhashoggi would not be tolerated.
His comments came as the US president praised Saudi Arabia for keeping oilprices low — one strand of his argument against punishing Riyadh eventhough the CIA reportedly found strong evidence that the crown prince, thede facto Saudi leader, was involved in the murder.
“In Saudi Arabia, our leadership is a red line. The custodian of the twoholy mosques (King Salman) and the crown prince are a red line,” Jubeirtold the BBC.
“They represent every Saudi citizen and every Saudi citizen representsthem. And we will not tolerate any discussion of anything that isdisparaging towards our monarch or our crown prince.”
Khashoggi, a US resident who wrote for The Washington Post and had beencritical of Prince Mohammed, was lured to the Saudi consulate in Istanbulon October 2, killed and reportedly dismembered.
After lengthy denials, Saudi authorities admitted responsibility and said21 people had been taken into custody. However, a CIA analysis leaked tothe US media went further, reportedly pointing the finger at the crownprince.
But Trump, on holiday at his Florida Mar-a-Lago Club on Wednesday, doubleddown on a statement from Tuesday that he was essentially ignoring thekilling of Khashoggi because of what he said were more important USstrategic and commercial interest
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“Oil prices getting lower. Great! Like a big Tax Cut for America and theWorld. Enjoy! $54, was just $82,” he tweeted. “Thank you to Saudi Arabia,but let´s go lower!”
Jubeir insisted that Prince Mohammed had not been involved in the killing.
“We have made that very clear. We have investigations ongoing and we willpunish the individuals who are responsible for this,” he said.
He called on Turkey to come forward with all its evidence about the slayingand stop leaking out information.
The foreign minister said the murder was a “rogue operation” byintelligence officers.
Jubeir also said any possible US sanctions on Saudi Arabia would beshort-sighted. – APP/AFP
