Count on kingdom to rally around Saudi crown prince
Of all the people who have anguished responses to the death of Jamal Khashoggi, Prince Turki al-Faisal is a special case: This pillar of the Saudi establishment says in an interview that he is “shocked” by the loss of his longtime protégé, but is standing behind King Salman and the crown prince during this period of crisis.
“People who think there’s going to be any change in the succession are wrong,” Turki said, rebutting speculation that Mohammed bin Salman might be replaced as crown prince because of allegations that he authorized the events leading to the death of Khashoggi, a Washington Post contributor. Instead, he said, Saudis are more supportive of MBS, as he’s known, because he’s under attack.
“The more criticism there is of the crown prince, the more popular he is in the kingdom,” Turki said. “If you took a poll among Saudis today, you would find that he is more popular than he was two weeks ago. That’s because Saudis feel that their leader is being unfairly attacked in the foreign media. That’s true of the royal family, as well. They feel that this is an attack on Saudi Arabia and the royal family, not just Mohammed bin Salman.”
There’s no way to verify these claims of popular support for MBS. But it’s significant that this pro-palace view is being expressed by Turki, who as a former intelligence chief and ambassador to London and Washington speaks for a branch of the royal family known for its moderate views.
Turki’s comments came on the eve of a statement by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan that accused the Saudis of committing a “gruesome murder” but didn’t reveal any new evidence that would confirm that Riyadh had staged a premeditated killing.
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