Saudi crown prince deplores 'repulsive' Khashoggi murder in first comments

Saudi Arabia's crown prince denounced the "repulsive" murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi and vowed justice will prevail, in his first public comments on the case, without addressing US accusations of a monumental cover-up.

Speaking at an investment conference in Riyadh, due to end on Thursday, the Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman pledged there would be "no rupture" in ties with Ankara, after the killing in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul triggered a diplomatic crisis.

"The incident was very painful for all Saudis, it's a repulsive incident and no one can justify it," he said in Arabic, during an address to the Future Investment Initiative forum on Wednesday.

"Those responsible will be held accountable... in the end justice will prevail."
Speaking at the investment forum, Prince Mohammed said: "Many are trying to exploit the Khashoggi affair to drive a wedge between Saudi Arabia and Turkey."
But, he said, "they will not succeed as long as there is a king named Salman and a crown prince named Mohammed bin Salman."
US President Donald Trump described the killing as "one of the worst in the history of cover-ups," and appeared to finger Prince Mohammed in telling the Wall Street Journal: "Well, the prince is running things over there... so if anybody were going to be, it would be him."