Journalist Jamal Khashoggi, murdered by a Saudi hit squad, and his fiancée Hatice Cengiz (File)


I joined Turkey’s TRT World on Saturday to talk about the four-month anniversary of the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul, Turkey.

The question was “Will there be justice over the murder?”, with UN officials now in Turkey to discuss the evidence. My answer was blunt: because of power politics rather than the law, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman — believed by Turkish and US intelligence services to be responsible for the assassination by a 15-member Saudi squad — will never be held accountable.

We know that 15 staff connected with the Saudi monarchy were involved.

It’s that last line of defense — in American football, we call it “Protect Your Quarterback” — for Mohammad bin Salman. You probably won’t be able to break that.