Saudi crown prince arrives in Argentina for G-20 amid Khashoggi murder furor

BUENOS AIRES — Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman landed in Buenos Aires on Wednesday for the G-20 summit of industrialised nations, Argentine state television reported, a visit fraught with controversy over the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

Human Rights Watch (HRW) asked Argentina on Monday to use a war crimes clause in its constitution to investigate any involvement by the crown prince in possible crimes against humanity in Yemen and Khashoggi’s murder.

A representative of the federal prosecutor’s office that has been assigned the case told Reuters by telephone on Wednesday that the prosecutor was still reviewing the request by HRW and that no decision had, yet, been made on whether to investigate it.

The killing of Khashoggi, a Washington Post columnist and a critic of the crown prince, at Riyadh’s consulate in Istanbul six weeks ago, has strained Saudi Arabia’s ties with the West and battered Prince Mohammed’s image abroad. Saudi Arabia has said the prince, the kingdom’s de facto ruler, had no prior knowledge of the murder.

Prince Mohammed arrived in Buenos Aires from Tunisia, where he was met by protesters who denounced him as a murderer for the killing of Khashoggi. He was greeted by Argentine Foreign Minister Jorge Faurie. 

Western nations are also calling for an end to the Saudi-led military campaign in neighbouring Yemen, which was launched by Prince Mohammed, as a humanitarian crisis there worsens.

The G-20 leaders summit begins on Friday.