Country says any criticism of their Crown Prince is crossing a 'red line'
Jubeir insisted that Prince Mohammed had not been involved in the killing. Pic/AFP
Saudi Arabia has warned criticism of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is a "red line", after Donald Trump heaped praise on the kingdom. Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir said on Wednesday that calls for the crown prince to be held accountable for the killing of Jamal Khashoggi would not be tolerated.
His comments came as the US president praised Saudi Arabia for keeping oil prices low - one strand of his argument against punishing Riyadh even though the CIA reportedly found strong evidence that the crown prince, the de facto Saudi leader, was involved in the murder.
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"In Saudi Arabia, our leadership is a red line. The custodian of the two holy mosques (King Salman) and the crown prince are a red line," Jubeir told the BBC. "They represent every Saudi citizen and every Saudi citizen represents them. And we will not tolerate any discussion of anything that is disparaging towards our monarch or our crown prince." Jubeir insisted that Prince Mohammed had not been involved in the killing. "We have made that very clear.
We have investigations ongoing and we will punish the individuals who are responsible for this," he said. He called on Turkey to come forward with all its evidence and stop leaking out information. He said the murder was a "rogue operation" by intelligence officers.
Denmark suspends arms sales to Saudi
Denmark on Thursday suspended arms sales to Saudi Arabia over the murder of Jamal Khashoggi, the second country to do so after Germany. "The foreign ministry is suspending all sales of weapons and military equipment to Saudi Arabia," Foreign Minister Anders Samuelsen said, adding, "I hope that the Danish decision can create additional momentum."
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