RIYADH (Middle East Eye) – Saud al-Qahtani, a former senior aide to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and a prime suspect in the murder of Jamal Khashoggi, has been seen in public for the first time since the Saudi journalist’s 2018 assassination.
Footage of Qahtani attending a social gathering in the Red Sea port city of Jeddah circulated on social media over the weekend, drawing condemnation.
Qahtani was hosted by a Saudi real estate developer and investor Ahmed al-Obaikan.
He appeared to be using a walking stick when Obaikan, his uncle, and other visitors greeted him.
Qahtani was suspended from Twitter a year after being removed over his suspected role in Khashoggi’s murder, accusing him of manipulating the platform. The former official was head of the royal court’s media centre and oversaw a social media campaign where hundreds of fake accounts promoted the Saudi government.
Qahtani disappeared from public view following the murder of Khashoggi, a Washington Post columnist, in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on 2 October 2018.
Hatice Cengiz, Khashoggi’s fiancee at the time of his murder, tweeted: “It seems that he is mentally and physically devastated. This is little for him in return what he has done against the innocent. Damn him and people like him.”
Turki al-Shalhoub, a Saudi journalist critical of his government, described Qahtani as the “dirty hand” of Mohammed bin Salman.
“The criminal [Saud al-Qahtani] committed a crime that shook the world, brought calamities upon the state and tarnished its image... This murderous criminal is still at work and moves freely, while those who truly loved their country and defended the rights of citizens are being ravaged by imprisonment!” Shalhoub tweeted.
After Mohammed bin Salman assumed the position of crown prince in 2017, Qahtani became one of the most powerful figures in Saudi Arabia. He was reported to have had a leading role in the Ritz Carlton purge of that year, and is alleged to have overseen the torture of imprisoned women’s rights activists, including Loujain al-Hathloul. He is also believed to have been a leading figure in the brief detention of then-Lebanese prime minister Saad al-Hariri in 2017.