Saudi Arabia’s crown prince said he bears responsibility for the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi last year by Saudi operatives “because it happened under my watch”, according to a PBS documentary to be broadcast next week.

Mohammed bin Salman, the kingdom’s de facto ruler, has not spoken publicly about the killing inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. The CIA and some Western governments have said he ordered it, but Saudi officials say he had no role.

The death sparked a global uproar, tarnishing the crown prince’s image and imperilling ambitious plans to diversify the economy of the world’s top oil exporter and open up cloistered Saudi society. He has not since visited the United States or Europe.

“It happened under my watch. I get all the responsibility, because it happened under my watch,” he told PBS’s Martin Smith, according to a preview of the documentary, ‘The Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia’, set to air on October 1, ahead of the one-year anniversary of Mr Khashoggi’s death.

After initial denials, the official Saudi narrative blamed the murder on rogue operatives. The public prosecutor said the then-deputy intelligence chief ordered the repatriation of Mr Khashoggi, a royal insider who became an outspoken critic, but the lead negotiator ordered him killed after discussions for his return failed.

Saud al-Qahtani, a former top royal adviser whom Reuters reported gave orders over Skype to the killers, briefed the hit team on Mr Khashoggi’s activities before the operation, the prosecutor said.

Asked how the killing could happen without him knowing about it, Mr Smith quotes Prince Mohammed as saying: “We have 20 million people. We have three million government employees.”

Eleven Saudi suspects have been put on trial in secretive proceedings but only a few hearings have been held.

Source: Read Full Article