Hariri answers MBS’s call

Last week, we wrote that Saad Hariri’s earlier hesitation in forming a new government in Lebanon was the result of his waiting for a call from Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, which we assessed was not likely to come, as the crown prince was preoccupied with the international outcry over the murder of Jamal Khashoggi on Oct. 2 at the kingdom’s consulate in Istanbul.

“Mohammed’s plight,” we suggested, “has been a kind of liberation for Hariri, who we wrote last year was ‘his own witness in a court of conscience’ following his captivity under the crown prince. Hariri now has one over his former patron and tormenter. The prime minister, who has kept his own counsel on the details of his captivity until now, could be a potential witness against Mohammed by testifying about the crown prince's previous behavior."

So much for that. The call came from the crown prince, commonly known by his initials MBS, and Hariri came running to his patron’s defense. As leaders from around the world dropped off from taking part in the Future Investment Initiative Forum in Riyadh last week to avoid a photo op with MBS, Hariri appeared on a panel with the crown prince and even allowed himself to be the recipient of a wince-inducing ribbing from his host, who assured everyone that “Prime Minister Saad is staying in the kingdom for two days so I hope you don’t spread rumors that he was kidnapped,” because he could leave after the conference. Hariri replied, “with all my freedom” to the joke and laughter from the room, showing that he and MBS were friends till the end, no matter the incriminations over Khashoggi’s murder, or even Hariri’s own mistreatment last year, when he “was verbally humiliated and beaten, according to eight Saudi, Arab and Western diplomatic sources,” Reuters reminded us this week.