The Week UK – 27 October 2018

THE RUTHLESS PRINCE: AN ATROCITY TOO FAR?
Saudi Arabia came under mounting international pressure over the killing of a dissident Saudi journalist this week when Turkey’s President Erdogan confirmed leaked accounts of the murder. Speaking publicly about the affair for the first time, Erdogan condemned the “savage” assassination of Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi consulate this month. He described the killing as
“political” and premeditated, but stopped short of directly implicating Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS). According to lurid accounts of the murder leaked earlier in the week, Saudi hitmen cut off Khashoggi’s fingers while he was still alive. Some of those involved were reportedly members of the prince’s own security team.
Before Erdogan’s speech, Saudi officials finally admitted that Khashoggi was murdered (having previously insisted that he left the consulate alive).