Jamal Khashoggi death: Saudi crown prince breaks silence on 'painful' case of killed journalist
Kingdom insists death of writer was an accident and attempts to distance crown prince from murder
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Your support makes all the difference.Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has promised that the killers of Jamal Khashoggi would be brought to justice, in his first public comments since the journalist's death sparked international condemnation.
Prince Mohammed told a major investment conference in Riyadh that Saudi Arabia and Turkey would work together "to reach results" on a joint investigation into the killing.
"The incident that happened is very painful, for all Saudis... The incident is not justifiable," the crown prince said on a discussion panel. "Justice in the end will appear."
He described cooperation between Riyadh and Ankara as "special" despite fierce criticism from Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan and his aides.
On Tuesday, hackers hijacked the summit’s website and posted an image of the royal about to behead Khashoggi on its homepage.
Read the updates from Wednesday, as they happened
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The war-torn nation of South Sudan has issued a rare foreign ministry statement praising Saudi Arabia's attempts to defuse the crisis as "honourable" and assuring the kingdom of its strong relations.
South Sudan isn't the only African nation to support the Saudis at a time when much of the world is shying away.
Whether pressured to speak up after receiving assistance or making a diplomatic play for more, some countries are bucking the global trend while others waver in the face of lucrative Saudi funding.
Their statements reveal the balancing act many African countries, notably in the Horn of Africa, make as more of the world's powers view the continent as a strategic investment.
Saudi officials have given permission to Turkish officials to search a wall at the kingdom's consulate in Istanbul as part of their investigation into Khashoggi's death.
Saudi cars with diplomatic plates were caught on CCTV entering the Belgrad forest in Istanbul a day before Khashoggi was killed, Turkish media reports have said.
Saudi Arabia's crown prince has "blood on his hands" over Khashoggi's murder, an adviser to Turkey's leader has said.
The bluntest comments yet from someone linked to Recep Tayyip Erdogan came from Ilnur Cevik.
"It is a disgrace that reaches all the way to Crown Prince (Mohammed bin) Salman. At least five members of the execution team are [Mohammed bin] Salman's right hands and are people that wouldn't act without his knowledge," Mr Cevik wrote in a column in the Yeni Birlik newspaper.
"Even if US President Trump saves [Mohammed bin] Salman, in the eyes of the world he is a questionable person with Khashoggi's blood on his hands," Mr Cevik wrote.
Mr Cevik is one of many of Mr Erdogan's advisers and not a prominent one. It was not immediately clear whether the views of the column reflected those of Mr Erdogan, who in speeches on Tuesday and Wednesday highlighted the need for all of those responsible - "from those who ordered it to those who carried it out" - to face justice.
Saudi Arabia's crown prince has arrived at the investment forum in Riyadh, which has been clouded by the killing of Khashoggi.
Mohammed bin Salman was due to talk with Bahrain's crown prince and Lebanon's prime minister, Saad Hariri, whom many suspect was cooerced by the royal to resign from his position on a visit to Saudi Arabia last year. Mr Hariri later renounced his resignation.
Turkey's president, Recep Tayyip Erdogasn, spoke to Saudi Arabia's crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman and the two discussed the steps needed to bring to light all aspects of Khashoggi's killing, a presidential source has told Reuters.
France will take appropriate measures if Saudi Arabia's guilt over the killing of Khashoggi is clearly established, a government spokesman has said.
"As long as the facts have not been clearly established, and corroborated by our information services, we will not take any decision," said Benjamin Griveaux.
"But on the other hand, once light has been shed on the matter and has been corroborated by our services, based on the hypothesis that Saudi Arabia's responsibility has been proven, then we would draw the necessary conclusions and take actions," he said, adding that such a move would not solely involve limiting arms sales.
Speaking at an investment forum in Riyadh dubbed "Davos in the Desert," Mohammed bin Salman, Saudi Arabia's crown prince, has said the Khashoggi incident was "painful" and "unjustified".
He called the killing "a heinous crime that cannot be justified" and went on to say all culprits would be punished.
Britain and other Western powers must be prepared to "take a stand" over the murder of dissident Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, Lord Heseltine has said.
The former deputy prime minister said the UK could not afford to stand back after the Saudi authorities finally admitted that Mr Khashoggi was killed in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.
But while he said that Britain should be prepared, if necessary, to halt arms sales to the Saudis, he warned that such measures would lead to a loss of UK influence in Riyadh.
In deciding what action to take, he said, the Government also needs to take account of the important stabilising role which Saudi Arabia has played in the Middle East.
"In this particular case I haven't the slightest doubt that the Western allies have got to take a stand over the butchering of Mr Khashoggi," Lord Heseltine told BBC Radio 4's Today programme.
"That's a scandalous thing to do and we cannot be in a position where we are criticising the Russians for the Salisbury incident and then stand back and allow ourselves to be associated with this event in Turkey.
"At the moment no-one has been able to prove - although they are trying and they may succeed - the connection between the Saudi government and this appalling event, but events are moving in that direction."
Lord Heseltine said that while Britain should be prepared to take action against the Saudis, the Government must think through the consequences.
"The problem with stopping selling arms is that it doesn't have any effect on the ability of these countries to behave in the way that they want to because there are plenty of other sources of arms procurement," he said.
"What it does mean is that you lose any influence in those countries. Saudi has played a very stabilising role in the Middle East in its relationship with Israel. That is probably the most explosive issue in the Middle East.
"So losing influence in Saudi Arabia, you have to be very very clear what you are doing. But what you have got to recognise is there that are points beyond which you must not go."
We have some more comments from the Saudi Crown Prince who is speaking for the first time since the death of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
He has insisted "justice will prevail" in the case and vowed all of those responsible will be punished.
He also said he would not allow the killing to 'drive a wedge' between his kingdom and Turkey. Relations soured since the journalist's death in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, with Turkey's president saying yesterday that a Saudi team had planned Khashoggi's murder
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