Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to give speech amid 'worst cover-up ever'

Kim Hjelmgaard and Deirdre Shesgreen USA TODAY

Published 4:45 AM EDT Oct 24, 2018

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman will address an international audience for the first time since the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, an incident President Donald Trump called the "worst cover-up ever."

The crown prince will give a speech at the Future Investment Initiative summit in Riyadh, an investment conference that has gone ahead despite calls for boycotts and many high-profile participants pulling out of the event amid allegations by Turkey that a 15-man Saudi hit squad, including a member of Prince Mohammed’s entourage, "ferociously" murdered Khashoggi.

Saudi Arabia has admitted the Washington Post columnist, who lived in exile in the U.S. over concerns for his safety, died inside the consulate on Oct 2., but it has also suggested, without offering evidence, that a team of Saudi operatives went rogue.

Trump administration officials, including the CIA Director Gina Haspel, are scheduled to return to Washington from Turkey on Wednesday to brief the president on their talks with Turkish officials. Turkey claims it has damning evidence, including audio and video recordings, that show Khashoggi was the victim of a brutal, premeditated execution.

Trump has said he is "not satisfied" with the Saudi Arabian account of Khashoggi's death and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the U.S. was looking into possible sanctions against those found guilty of the journalist's murder. 

Khashoggi's remains have not been recovered. 

More: Turkey: Jamal Khashoggi 'ferociously murdered' by Saudi Arabian hit squad

The crown prince has mostly avoided appearing in public since Khashoggi's disappearance three weeks ago, although he has spoken with Trump on the phone and received visits from Pompeo and Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin. 

Saudi Arabian state media on Tuesday published photos of Jamal Khashoggi's son, Salah Khashoggi, looking pained as he's being offered condolences by the crown prince and his father, King Salman. Khashoggi's editor at The Washington Post has said that the late columnist's children have been barred from leaving Saudi Arabia. 

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