00:00:03 – 00:00:12 Reporter: The horrific murder of Jamal Khashoggi shocked the world. The finger of suspicion has been pointed at this man. Though, he's condemned the killing.

 

00:00:15 – 00:00:17 – Bin Salman: This was an ugly incident… It cannot be justified.

 

00:00:18 – 00:00:29 - Reporter: But a secret informant inside the kingdom tells the BBC that Khashoggi's murder Wasn't the first killing to be carried out by people close to the crown prince Mohammed Bin Salman.

 

00:00:29 – 00:00:33 – Informant: His interrogator hit him in the face with a club. He didn’t get up.

 

00:00:34 – 00:00:40 Reporter: And this lawyer, well known within Saudi royal circles, says he has evidence supporting that claim.

 

00:00:42 – 00:00:46 - Rifat: I think this was no accident. They intended to kill this man…

 

00:00:47 – 00:00:56 - Reporter: In this programme, we investigate the past behaviour of the crown prince. We ask, can he survive the furore over Jamal Khashoggi?

 

00:00:57 – 00:01:01 – Kirkpatrick: He will forever be shadowed and tarnished in the eyes of the world for this killing.

 

00:01:02 – 00:01:08 - Reporter: The future of a nation, not just one man, will be shaped by the battle now underway.

 

00:01:10 – 00:01:13 – Panetta: It's very important that a price be paid here.

 

00:01:14 – 00:01:22 - Reporter: The result could have a huge impact on Saudi Arabia. The richest and most powerful country in the Arab world.

 

00:01:33 – 00:02:13 - Reporter: Jamal Khashoggi walked into the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on the 2nd of October. The blurry images of his killers and their target have since been played countless times. Lurid accounts of a blood bath inside the consulate have now been confirmed by the Turkish authorities. They say Khashoggi was strangled and his body dismembered and destroyed. They also say, the order to kill came from the highest levels of the Saudi government. Saudi Arabia's protestations, first of innocence then ignorance at the top, have prompted confusion.

 

00:02:14 – 00:02:17 – Trump: These could have been rogue killers.

 

00:02:18 – 00:02:22 - Reporter: Then condemnation.

Trump: It's a very serious situation. for us and this White House.

 

00:02:24 – 00:02:45 - Reporter: It's put long standing alliances under great pressure. While for those close to Khashoggi it has been devastating. Jamal Khashoggi's fiance waited outside the consulate for four hours unaware of the horrific events taking place only a few metres away.

 

00:02:48 – 00:03:03 - Hatice Cengiz: We went but he didn’t come out. There were no goodbyes. There was no closure.

 

00:03:05 - 00:04:17 - Reporter: His critics say the order to kill can only have come from the defacto ruler of Saudi Arabia himself. But is there evidence of the Crown Prince's complicity. We can reveal new allegations of criminality within his inner circle. The BBC has learned that the murder of Jamal Khashoggi may not be the first killing alleged to have been carried out by associates of NBS. Previously there had been a series of kidnappings and violent incidents. Then, 12 months ago, another step; a death in custody. In November 2017, the Saudi elite was gripped by panic. The Crown Prince ordered more than 200 princes, businessmen and government officialsTo be detained at the luxury Ritz Carlton hotel Riyadh. It was described as an anti-corruption drive. An audacious move that seemed to play well outside the kingdom, especially in the White House.

 

00:04:17 - 00:04:28 Trump Tweet: I have great confidence in King Salman and the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, they know exactly what they are doing. Some of those they are harshly treating have been "milking" their country for years!

 

00:04:29 - 00:04:38 - Reporter: Back then, MBS was talked of almost as a Saudi Robin Hood. The BBC interviewed Jamal Khashoggi about the events.

 

00:04:39 - 00:04:43 – BBC reporter:  The message from Mohammed Bin Salman seems to be quite simple; we want the money back.

 

00:04:46,566 - 00:05:01 – Khashoggi:  Yes, and I think we should give him the benefit of the doubt. But at the same time, shouldn't that be discussed in a consultative body? Yes, we need to crush corruption, but it is being done by one-man rule.

 

00:05:02 - 00:05:05 - Reporter: Khashoggi's concerns seemed to be supported by the allegations emerging from the Ritz Carlton. Allegations that the detainees hadn't just been stripped of their wealth; some had been tortured. A key figure in the interrogations was this man... Saud Al-Qahtani. 12 months later, the Saudis themselves would implicate him in the killing of Khashoggi. Now demoted, he was described as the Crown Prince's fixer and enforcer. During the interrogations, a multi-billionaire Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, one of his business contacts, was summoned to Riyadh. Al-Qahtani believed he could help persuade the prince to cooperate.

 

00:05:55 – 00:06:08 - Alan Bender: Saud Al-Qahtani was bragging about torturing those so-called 'royals'... quotation, that's what he- they are not real royals, that's what he said. He said we will treat them like dogs.

 

00:06:09 - 00:06:17 - Reporter: Al-Qahtani questioned Prince Alwaleed via a video link. Once the interrogation was over, a royal visitor arrived.

 

00:06:18- 00:06:35 – Bender: Mohammed bin Salman showed up minutes after we sat down with a big smile on his face which led me to believe he was watching the whole thing. I noticed four cameras in the corners of that suite. So I believe that he was watching the whole thing.

 

00:06:35,542 - 00:07:06 - Reporter: After almost 3 months detention, Prince Alwaleed was released. Another detainee was treated more harshly. According to Mohammed Rifat, a lawyer who has worked for several princes, he's also a long-standing critic of the Saudi regime. He says, punishment was meted out to Prince Mutaib bin Abdullah, former commander of the national guard and Mohammed bin Salman's cousin. He says family members told him what happened.

 

00:07:08 – 00:07:34 - Mahmoud Refat: Saud Al Qahtani hit several princes and wealthy people. Mutaib was also taken to hospital several times because of torture and beatings. MBS then set up a field hospital in the Ritz so these people wouldn’t be taken to hospital every time.

 

00:07:37 - 00:08:11 - Reporter: A secret informant inside the kingdom has alleged to the BBC that the abuse didn't stop at torture. He says, one man was beaten to death. We can't independently verify his story but it tallies with at least two other accounts of what took place. Using an encrypted messaging system, the source says the victim is this man... Major General Ali Al-Qahtani. A senior officer in the Saudi national guard an aide to one of the princes that had been detained.

 

00:08:16 – 00:08:32 - Informant: His interrogator hit him in the face with a club and he fell to the floor. They poured water on him but he didn’t get up. His heart stopped. This information came from one of the prison guards. They threatened their families to keep them quiet, maybe they were paid off.

 

00:08:34 - 00:08:53 - Reporter: Mohammed Rifat says he's heard about this killing from those close to General Al-Qahtani. He said the general's attackers believed he held damaging information about the Crown Prince and his circle. Rifat describes this secret information as a black box.

 

00:08:54 – 00:09:26 - Rifat: The beating to death of General al Qahtani, I don’t think it was a coincidence. They intended to kill this man because he was a ‘black box’ for many things. This is one of the theories about Jamal Khashoggi’s killing. That he was also a ‘black box’ because of the long-time association he had with the Al Saud family.

 

00:09:27 - 00:09:37 - Reporter: David Kirkpatrick is a New York Times reporter with special knowledge of the Middle-east. He's investigated what happened at the Ritz Carlton.

 

00:09:38 - 00:10:09 – Kirkpatrick:  I have a very high degree of confidence that there was torture and physical abuse taking place at the Ritz Carlton. At least 17 people were taken to a hospital for treatment for injuries they sustained during their interrogation. At least one person, General Qahtani, died as a result of that abuse. Someone who saw the body and other doctors of the hospital who treated him told us that he had a broken neck and his body showed many signs of swelling and other forms of physical abuse probably during torture.

 

00:10:10 – 00:10:19 - Reporter: The Ritz Carlton victims were all high profile Saudis. It's alleged the attacks could only have been authorized at the highest level.

 

00:10:20 - 00:10:30 – Bender: Saud Al-Qahtani wouldn't dare to take such steps into a plan of this magnitude without the record from MBS and he only reports to MBS.

 

 

00:10:30 - 00:10:43 - Reporter: In connection with a separate incident, a tweet that was posted in 2017 on Saud Al-Qahtani's account stated that he's a loyal servant who follows orders from the top.

 

00:10:45 – 00:10:53 – Tweet: Do you think I insult my own accord without guidance? I am an employee and a loyal servant of his Royal Highness the King and his Highness the Crown Prince.

 

00:10:56 – 00:11:05- Reporter:

The BBC asked the Crown Prince's office, whether Mohammed bin-Salman had ever sanctioned torture and killing. They said...

00:11:07 – 00:11:25 - Statement: We categorically deny and reject these false claims… which are completely baseless and untrue… the anti-corruption committee… pursued its mandate in a responsible and judicious way… the Law of Criminal Procedures guarantees defendants’ rights and prohibits subjecting the detainees to any harm.

 

00:11:27 – 00:11:46 - Reporter: The killing of Jamal Khashoggi and these fresh allegations over

last year's purge have focused attention on the 33 year old Crown Prince. So who exactly is MBS? And, how does a thirty-something come to be running Saudi Arabia?

 

00:11:48 – 00:11:51 - Trump: We've become very good friends over a fairly short period of time.

 

00:11:52 - 00:13:05 - Reporter: Powerful friends are what the Crown Prince needs right now. Since the murder of Jamal Khashoggi, MBS has been widely cast as the possible mastermind. His carefully nurtured image as a liberal reformer has been shredded. It's a sudden change in fortune because up to now the world had pretty much conformed to his wishes. Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud grew up as the favourite son of his father. Recently estimated the control of fortune exceeding 17 billion dollars. The Crown Prince has an extraordinary family tree. The Saudi royal family, though less than a century old, now numbers more than 5000. MBS is a grandson of Saudi's first king, Abdulaziz. But then, so are more than 3000 other princes. A wealthy socialite who knows his family well provides a rare personal insight into this secret world Her voice and identity have been disguised.

 

00:13:07 – 00:13 30 - Socialite: When he was a teenager he was always on his Playstation. He was obsessed with Sonic the Hedgehog. He wasn’t exactly known for his academic excellence. These princes are isolated from the outside world. They live with the children of the palace servants as their companions and nobody can say no to them.

00:13:32 – 00:13:48 - Reporter: There are also accounts of Mohammed bin Salman's alleged dark side. A senior Prince has told us on condition of anonymity of a threat issued when MBS was just 16. His recorded account has been re-voiced to protect his identity.

 

00:13:49 – 00:14:05 - Prince: There was a legal dispute over a land deal. Mohammed bin Salman went to the office of the senior judge in Riyadh and placed a bullet on the desk. He said ‘either we get what we want – or you get this’.

00:14:07 – 00:14:20 - Reporter: The Crown Prince is a fairly recent arrival on the world stage. In 2016 he gave his first ever interview to a specialist in Middle-East economics and left a lasting impression.

 

00:14:20 – 00:14:36 - Nick Pelham: He filled the room, all his courtiers drifted into the shadows and there were really some quite senior people amongst them but it was his voice that dominated. He's vast. He towers over all his courtiers and he has these huge hands which he uses to make his point.

 

00:14:37 – 00:14:47 - Reporter:

The conversation turned to how only the day before more than 40 people some said to be terrorists, had been executed in Saudi-Arabia.

 

00:14:48 – 00:15:02 - Pelham: I remember one chilling statement that he said at the time which was 'Execution is a language that my people understand'. If he was going to retain control, I think it was clear at that point that death was going to be an instrument of policy.

 

00:15:03 – 00:16:09 - Reporter: What made Jamal Khashoggi a candidate for assassination? He was an insider in Saudi royal circles. But with a global network of friends and contacts. Born in Mecca in 1958, his grandfather had been person of position to the first Saudi king, Abdulaziz His uncle Adnan, a billionaire arms dealer, was in the 1980s labelled the richest man in the world. Jamal Khashoggi's first cousin Dodi Fayed boyfriend of Dianna, princess of Wales. As a young foreign correspondent Jamal gained the trust of Osama Bin Laden interviewing him several times when Bin Laden was fighting the Soviets in Afghanistan. As a respected international commentator, he first welcomed what Mohammed bin Salman might bring to Saudi Arabia. But by 2017 as he made clear in a BBC interview, he'd revised his opinion.

 

00:16:10 – 00:16:29 - Khashoggi: Today it is ruled by only one man. Not even within the family, he has no one close to him even in the family. He is the sole leader of Saudi Arabia. One-man rule is always problematic, always end with a disaster whether in Germany, or in in Iraq or in Saudi Arabia.

 

00:16:30 – 00:16:37 - Reporter: Riyadh has now accepted the murder of Jamal Khashoggi was premeditated. But who authorized it?

 

00:16:38 – 00:16:54 - Pelham: Anybody who takes a decision in the kingdom defers to MBS before they act. Is it conceivable that there could have been intelligence operatives, members of the security establishment who were trying to impress their master and miscalculated? Possibly.

 

00:16:54 – 00:17:57 - Reporter: Saudi Arabia has stated that the operation was carried out by a team acting without the knowledge or authorization of the royal court. However, the Saudis themselves

now excuse Saud Al-Qahtani the trusted servant of Mohammed bin Salman heavily implicated in the Ritz Carlton abuses of playing a role in the Khashoggi killing. They say he was in charge of the team sent to Istanbul. The BBC has established that Saud Al-Qahtani has not been back to his office since the death of Khashoggi. Saudi media say he's been fired along with two other officials. We asked Saud Al-Qahtani to comment on the allegations made in this film. He has not responded. However, the Saudi government has told the BBC its investigation into Khashoggi's death will be...

 

00:17:59 – 00:18:25 - Statement: …thorough, transparent and wide-ranging. Saudi law enforcement officials are working with their Turkish counterparts to uncover the facts and a number of individuals are currently in custody. Saudi Arabia is establishing robust mechanisms to ensure that such an abhorrent incident can never be repeated… a committee chaired by HRH the Crown Prince will reform the General Intelligence Presidency.

 

00:18:26 – 00:18:41 - Reporter: What now lies in store for Mohammed bin Salman? Leon Panetta, served as defense secretary and also director of the CIA under president Obama. He's met the Crown Prince on several occasions.

 

00:18:43 – 00:19:03 - Panetta: I think it's very important that a price be paid here for the horrendous murder that took place in that consulate. It's up to the Crown Prince to make clear what occurred here because let's face it, the bottom line is that his credibility has been damaged.

 

00:19:04 - 00:19:12 - Reporter: With his reputation badly tarnished overseas, how much support does the Crown Prince still command at home?

 

00:19:13 – 00:19:38 - Kirkpatrick:  Right now the royal family is enormously unhappy with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. One of the distinctive features of his rise to power is a crackdown on the privileges that the royal family has enjoyed. So the royal family really hated him before Jamal Khashoggi and continues to hate him. The question is, do they have any power to do anything about it?

 

00:19:39 – 00:19:50 - Reporter: In 2017, Jamal Khashoggi told the BBC that his ambitions were modest. Yes, he could influence how people thought, but after all, he was just a writer.

 

00:19:54 – 00:20:09- Khashoggi: I only want to be an independent writer. I am prevented from writing from my home in Jeddah, forbidden from appearing in the media and forbidden from publishing books. That is all I want to do.

00:20:11 - 00:20:18 - Reporter: Jamal Khashoggi's ambition can no longer be fulfilled. But will anybody be held accountable?

 

00:20:20 – 00:20:43 - Cengiz: In a case like this, it is clear that someone has to be responsible. Whether they ordered it or actually carried it out. We demand they go on trial.

 

00:20:45 - 00:21:21 - Reporter: It's too soon to say who will be tried in connection with the Khashoggi killing. But in the court of world opinion, a trial is already underway, and the defence are on the ropes. Despite the tens of millions reportedly spent lobbying in the U.S the savagery meted out to Jamal Khashoggi has wiped away the smiles that used to greet Mohammed bin Salman. And the man who's interview helped bring Mohammed bin Salman to the world's attention says the brand has lost its lustre.

 

00:21:22 - 00:21:55 - Pelham: What you can see at the moment is that inside the kingdom he still looks a preeminent force. I think he'll remain for the foreseeable future but he'll be a very different ruler. Somebody who is going to be very nervous about his position who won't feel that he enjoys the confidence of the international community. His economic vision is already in doubt but it's going to be placed even further in doubt because it relied very heavily on foreign investment and it's very hard to see how foreigners are going to take a punt on Saudi Arabia In the coming months and years.

 

00:21:57 – 00:22:17 - Reporter: Saudi Arabia's recent actions have attracted massive global attention. Most of it hostile. Ironically, Jamal Khashoggi's death has subjected the Saudi government and the man who runs it to the sort of scrutiny nothing he wrote could ever have achieved.