The savage murder last year of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, dismembered by Saudi Arabia’s agents in its consulate in Istanbul, surprised in the way it accelerated into the worst crisis between the kingdom and the west since September 11 2001, when 15 of the 19 hijackers who attacked the US turned out to be Saudis. It seems just as surprising that, as 2019 progresses, there is little let-up in the pressure on the Saudi leadership — in particular on Mohammed bin Salman, the powerful crown prince widely blamed for ordering the assassination. If anything, it is intensifying.
记者贾迈勒•卡舒吉(Jamal Khashoggi)去年被沙特行刑队在该国驻伊斯坦布尔领事馆残忍杀害并肢解的事件，在几个地方令人惊讶，首先是它让沙特与西方陷入了自2001年9月11日以来最严重的危机——在9/11事件中袭击美国的19名劫机者中，竟然有15人是沙特人。同样令人惊讶的是，进入2019年之后，沙特领导层受到的压力没有缓解——尤其是穆罕默德•本•萨勒曼(Mohammed bin Salman)受到的压力，这位权势极大的王储被普遍指责下达了暗杀的命令。如果说情况有任何变化的话，那就是压力在加大。