A smiling Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman showed up at a global investment summit in Riyadh on Tuesday, drawing applause and posing for photographs, as the kingdom sought to restrict the damage from the murder of a leading Saudi critic.
International outrage over the fate of Jamal Khashoggi has overshadowed the conference, with dozens of bankers, executives and foreign dignitaries dropping out as it emerged the Washington Post columnist was killed inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. In a lengthy televised address timed to coincide with the event’s opening day, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan rejected Saudi Arabia’s shifting narratives, saying the killing was premeditated and that those responsible must be punished, even if “at the very top.”
