The storm ignited by Saudi Arabia’s savage assassination of the journalist Jamal Khashoggi in its Istanbul consulate has momentarily given way to a lull. The purported Saudi investigation into the murder has put on hold any international response — even though it looks like a cover-up to shield Mohammed bin Salman, the kingdom’s crown prince and de facto ruler.
Riyadh sent its attorney-general, Saud al-Mojeb, to Turkey supposedly to co-operate in the probe. Far from providing any information, Turkish officials say, the Wahhabi jurist wanted to find out how much the Turks know. A lot, is the answer; certainly enough to point the finger towards the top, as they made clear to the CIA and other western intelligence agencies.
Yet anyone with even cursory knowledge of the way power works in Saudi Arabia could work that out anyway. Aside from the demand of justice for Khashoggi, the burning concern here is that, in an absolute monarchy wholly centralised around the person of the crown prince, it is truly a crisis when the wheels come off. There are real uncertainties about what happens next.