Hold Saudi Arabia accountable

T here have been moments in history when great leaders have found it necessary to overlook heinous crimes to preserve strategic alliances and further greater interests. The alleged killing of Jamal Khashoggi is not one of them.

The prominent Saudi commentator has not been seen since he entered the Saudi consulate in Istanbul more than two weeks ago. Details leaked by Turkish officials suggest that he was killed shortly afterwards in the most blood-curdling manner. If Turkish accounts prove accurate — and officials have claimed to have audio, video and other evidence to back them up — there can be no holding of noses. For all Saudi Arabia’s geostrategic clout, the consequences must be serious.

Western countries have stood united in castigating President Vladimir Putin for Russia’s attempted murder of the former spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter on UK soil. They acted in unison to sanction Moscow even before evidence established the Kremlin’s guilt beyond reasonable doubt. The West must be equally resolute in responding to Riyadh if Saudi agents are found responsible for Khashoggi’s murder. To do otherwise would be to invite autocrats across the world to bump off their critics and avert any blow-back with improbable alibis.

In this quandary, US President Donald Trump has much to lose. He has pinned his Middle East policy — countering Iran and combating religious extremism — on his alliance with Saudi Arabia in general, and on the de facto ruler, Mohammed bin Salman, in particular. So far, in the case of Khashoggi, he has appeared willing to buy Saudi denials of guilt and hints of a rogue operation.

Trump has been explicit about his willingness to safeguard a putative $110bn arms deal with Saudi Arabia, whatever the truth. The scarcely plausible narrative he has hinted at shows how much he has staked on his relations with Riyadh. /London, October 18