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One of the main suspects in the 2018 assassination of journalist Jamal Khashoggi has emerged from the shadows as Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) visits Paris in an effort to rebrand his image in the West. Several videos circulating on social media have shown Saoud al-Qahtani, MBS’s former “media adviser”, making a widely noticed appearance in Jeddah.
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Spotted in one of the videos circulating on social media last weekend, Saoud al-Qahtani, a former special adviser to Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS), was all smiles, assisted by a walking cane and accompanied by a group of people.
Online footage posted on Twitter showed Qahtani at a social gathering purportedly hosted by a Saudi real estate developer in the Red Sea port city of Jeddah on June 18.
Up until now, the crown prince’s alleged henchman had kept a low profile and had not been seen publicly since the assassination of 59-year-old Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018. The latter, a longtime critic of the Saudi royal family and a columnist for The Washington Post, was murdered on October 2, 2018 inside the Saudi Arabian consulate in Istanbul. His body was never recovered.
Although regarded as one of the main orchestrators of the killing by Washington following multiple probes, Qahtani was acquitted by a Saudi court in December 2019.
A comeback for Qahtani?
Qahtani’s reappearance last Sunday comes at a time when MBS is looking to patch over relations with the West after being sidelined since the Khashoggi affair.
Currently in Paris for an extended state visit, Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler met with French President Emmanuel Macron last Friday and is attending Thursday’s Summit for a New Global Financial Pact aimed at rethinking the world’s financial system to account for…
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Source : france24
