Saudi crown prince looks to Asia trip to boost image
Facing fallout in the West over the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman hopes his upcoming trip to Asia will project an image of business as usual.
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is traveling to five Asian countries later this month in his first foreign travels since the G-20 summit in Argentina. The Saudis desperately want to portray this as a business as usual trip, suggesting the fallout from the murder of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi in the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul is over. Details of the itinerary have been kept vague, probably for security reasons and fears of hostile demonstrations.
The crown prince, commonly referred to by his initials MBS, will first travel to Pakistan on Sunday. Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan was one of a handful of foreign leaders to visit Riyadh last October for an investment conference that was boycotted by most investors because of the premeditated murder of Khashoggi on Oct. 2. The crown prince is widely believed to have ordered the murder and dispatched a team of his henchmen to carry out the gruesome killing. The White House continues to try to shield him from investigation and sanctions, but the media and Congress are determined to hold him accountable.
For his attendance at the Riyadh conference and posing for pictures with the crown prince, Imran Khan was handsomely rewarded. He came home to Islamabad with over $6 billion in loans and deferred oil payments. The Saudis encouraged the United Arab Emirates to match their deal.
Despite the Saudi aid, the kingdom is not popular in Pakistan. Four years ago the Pakistani parliament voted unanimously to reject MBS' request for Pakistani troops to fight his war in Yemen. The Saudi war in Yemen is still deeply unpopular with Pakistanis. The crown prince is bringing his own vehicles and scores of bodyguards for security and the Pakistani army will be out in force to protect him.
