Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman speaks about Jamal Khashoggi killing
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman addresses Jamal Khashoggi killing, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s5SzngV3Q4E, 2 min. 45 secs, published by CBS News on 24th Oct. 2018
I have transcribed below the translation to English of (Arabic, I guess) words of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman (MbS):
First of all, the crime was really painful to all Saudis, and I believe it is painful to every human in the world. It is a heinous crime that cannot be justified.
Today Saudi Arabia is carrying out all legal things to finalize the investigations, to work with the, (to) co-operate with the Turkish government, and to present the perpetrators to the court and take their judgement. This is the expected thing that all governments would do, once they see a crime.
Undoubtedly today, the co-operation between the Saudi and Turkish government is unique and we know that many are trying to use this painful thing to drive a wedge between Saudi Arabia and Turkey.
I want to send them a message. They will not be able to do that as long as there is a King called King Salman bin Abdulaziz and a Crown Prince called Mohammad bin Salman in Saudi Arabia and a President in Turkey called Erdogan.
This wedge will not happen and we will prove to the world that the two governments are cooperating to see that all perpetrators are taken to court, and justice will be seen in the end. This is what I can say.
In addition to this, Saudi Arabia has taken steps, very huge steps in developing the Saudi economy in the past three years and restructuring many institutions and sectors. Today, it is time to restructure national security institutions in Saudi Arabia in order to meet and be equal to the rest of the institutions that have been upgraded and developed.
--- end transcript ---
Ravi: I am very heartened to listen to these words from the powerful Saudi Arabian Crown Prince MbS. Yes, perhaps I would be naive if I believed each and every word of these remarks. But what I have learned from living over five and a half decades mostly in India, even though India is a democracy (but not an advanced democracy), is that power has to be respected. Saudi Arabia is not an advanced democracy like in the Western world. It is a monarchy. Its norms are going to be somewhat different from that of the West.
Saudi Arabia is home to the two holiest mosques of Islam - Mecca and Medina mosques. What is vital for the world at large is that peace and stability are ensured in Saudi Arabia. Note that Islam is estimated to have around 1.8 billion followers across the world making up around 24 percent of the world population, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islam_by_country. Mecca and Medina are vital to these 1.8 billion followers of Islam.
Both Saudi Arabia and Turkey are Islamic nations. An investigation by these two countries, jointly or independently, which shares details with the public and hopefully arrives at a joint conclusion would be good, IMHO.
One must bear in mind that the Middle East is one of the most violent and war-prone regions of the world today with the wars being very vicious and lasting long. One cannot apply norms of Western democracies or even Indian democracy, to the volatile and dangerous Middle East.
My prayers to God/Allah that justice be done in this horrific and tragic killing of the journalist Jamal Khashoggi and that peace and harmony prevails in Saudi Arabia, the land of the two holiest sites of Islam, and Turkey, a powerful and modern Islamic country.
I have transcribed below the translation to English of (Arabic, I guess) words of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman (MbS):
First of all, the crime was really painful to all Saudis, and I believe it is painful to every human in the world. It is a heinous crime that cannot be justified.
Today Saudi Arabia is carrying out all legal things to finalize the investigations, to work with the, (to) co-operate with the Turkish government, and to present the perpetrators to the court and take their judgement. This is the expected thing that all governments would do, once they see a crime.
Undoubtedly today, the co-operation between the Saudi and Turkish government is unique and we know that many are trying to use this painful thing to drive a wedge between Saudi Arabia and Turkey.
I want to send them a message. They will not be able to do that as long as there is a King called King Salman bin Abdulaziz and a Crown Prince called Mohammad bin Salman in Saudi Arabia and a President in Turkey called Erdogan.
This wedge will not happen and we will prove to the world that the two governments are cooperating to see that all perpetrators are taken to court, and justice will be seen in the end. This is what I can say.
In addition to this, Saudi Arabia has taken steps, very huge steps in developing the Saudi economy in the past three years and restructuring many institutions and sectors. Today, it is time to restructure national security institutions in Saudi Arabia in order to meet and be equal to the rest of the institutions that have been upgraded and developed.
--- end transcript ---
Ravi: I am very heartened to listen to these words from the powerful Saudi Arabian Crown Prince MbS. Yes, perhaps I would be naive if I believed each and every word of these remarks. But what I have learned from living over five and a half decades mostly in India, even though India is a democracy (but not an advanced democracy), is that power has to be respected. Saudi Arabia is not an advanced democracy like in the Western world. It is a monarchy. Its norms are going to be somewhat different from that of the West.
Saudi Arabia is home to the two holiest mosques of Islam - Mecca and Medina mosques. What is vital for the world at large is that peace and stability are ensured in Saudi Arabia. Note that Islam is estimated to have around 1.8 billion followers across the world making up around 24 percent of the world population, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islam_by_country. Mecca and Medina are vital to these 1.8 billion followers of Islam.
Both Saudi Arabia and Turkey are Islamic nations. An investigation by these two countries, jointly or independently, which shares details with the public and hopefully arrives at a joint conclusion would be good, IMHO.
One must bear in mind that the Middle East is one of the most violent and war-prone regions of the world today with the wars being very vicious and lasting long. One cannot apply norms of Western democracies or even Indian democracy, to the volatile and dangerous Middle East.
My prayers to God/Allah that justice be done in this horrific and tragic killing of the journalist Jamal Khashoggi and that peace and harmony prevails in Saudi Arabia, the land of the two holiest sites of Islam, and Turkey, a powerful and modern Islamic country.
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