The world is slowly turning against Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman even as Trump digs his heels in

Authored by businessinsider.com and submitted by maxwellhill

It wasn't that long ago that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the de facto ruler of Saudi Arabia, was seen as someone who would usher in positive change to the kingdom.

Today, Crown Prince Mohammed, 33, is widely viewed as the central villain in the brutal killing of the Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

Khashoggi was killed in the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul on October 2. Less than two months later, the crown prince's image as a reformer has been flipped on its head amid global outcry over the killing.

The crown prince was engaged in dubious activities prior to Khashoggi's death, such as imprisoning his rivals and kidnapping the Lebanese prime minister, but his public image was widely unharmed.

The crown prince met Khashoggi's son in the Saudi capital of Riyadh. SPA

Khashoggi's killing, however, has dramatically changed the narrative on the crown prince, and the world is slowly turning against him.

Trump is standing by the crown prince, but the rest of Washington is starting to turn against the Saudi ruler

The CIA has reportedly concluded with "high confidence" that the crown prince ordered Khashoggi's killing, though the Saudi government has vehemently denied this.

Read more: Trump accused of 'cover-up' after reportedly barring CIA director Gina Haspel from briefing Senate on Khashoggi killing

President Donald Trump has so far stood by the crown prince as he faces allegations of ordering a hit on Khashoggi. Trump has consequently been accused of once again undermining the US intelligence community, but he's remained steadfast in his support for the kingdom as he emphasizes, if sometimes embellishing, the economic benefits of the US-Saudi partnership.

But other politicians in the US, including some of Trump's fellow Republicans, are not on the same page.

After a briefing on Khashoggi's killing on Wednesday, Republican Sen. Bob Corker — the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee — told reporters he didn't think there was "anybody in the room" who thought the crown prince was not responsible for it.

Read more: Bernie Sanders slams US support for 'despotic' Saudi Arabia in Yemen and bashes Trump over Khashoggi: 'No more! Enough death. Enough killing.'

The US Senate on Wednesday subsequently voted 63-37 to advance a resolution that would end support for Saudi Arabia's war in Yemen. The same resolution failed in the Senate back in March in a 55-44 vote, revealing how quickly feelings have shifted on the US-Saudi relationship among members of Congress.

Earlier this week, Crown Prince Mohammed faced mass protests in Tunisia as he visited, marking a profound rebuke from the citizens of a fellow Arab country. Protesters chanted "the murderer is not welcome in Tunisia" and "shame on Tunisia's rulers" for allowing the crown prince into the country, NBC News reported.

Tunisians protested against the crown prince as he visited Tunisia earlier this week, denouncing him over the killing of Khashoggi. Hassene Dridi/AP

A prosecutor in Argentina has agreed to a request from Human Rights Watch to prosecute the crown prince for crimes against humanity, including mass civilian casualties in Yemen and Khashoggi's killing, The Guardian reported Wednesday. The crown prince is in Argentina for the G20 summit in Buenos Aires, but The Guardian noted that he was unlikely to face charges before leaving the country.

Several European nations — including Germany, Finland, and Denmark — have all recently announced they would halt arms sales to the Saudis. In justifying their decisions, Germany and Denmark cited Khashoggi's killing, while Finland pointed to the humanitarian crisis in Yemen.

mandux2017 on November 29th, 2018 at 03:39 UTC »

That photo of Khashoggi's son shaking the Crown Prince's hand always fucks me up. Imagine having to shake the hand of the man who ordered your father's murder. AND it was like a day or two after his dads death. Ruthless. A sick power play by the Prince.

what_in_the_who_now on November 29th, 2018 at 03:15 UTC »

As a Canadian, it wasn’t slow for me after the whole threatening us in August thing. Then pulling their own students who did nothing, out of our country. He can fuck off. Then he had Khashoggi murdered, the whole world knows what happened. It’s amazing that with technology and communication that lets everybody know what happened. It fucking happened, we all know! There’s audio! Yet politicians are shrugging. House of Saud is trash in my opinion. I can say that! Imagine someone living there and voicing an opinion like this? They’d fear for their lives. What year is it?

autotldr on November 29th, 2018 at 01:00 UTC »

This is the best tl;dr I could make, original reduced by 81%. (I'm a bot)

Trump is standing by the crown prince, but the rest of Washington is starting to turn against the Saudi ruler The CIA reportedly concluded with "High confidence" that Prince Mohammed ordered the killing, though the Saudi government has vehemently denied this.

A prosecutor in Argentina has agreed to a request from Human Rights Watch to prosecute the crown prince for crimes against humanity, including mass civilian casualties in Yemen and Khashoggi's killing, The Guardian reported.

The crown prince now faces opposition in multiple corners of the world, and growing resistance in Congress to the historic US partnership with his country.

Extended Summary | FAQ | Feedback | Top keywords: Prince#1 killed#2 Khashoggi#3 Crown#4 Saudi#5