MBS

His opinions sometimes got him attacked online, but he stuck to them and said he was grateful that Saudi Arabia allowed open discussion.

“In the Arab world, everyone thinks journalists cannot be independent, but I represent myself, which is the right thing to do. What would I be worth if I succumbed to pressure to change my opinions? The atmosphere of freedom must be preserved, and I am happy that my government is doing so,” he wrote. “The world cannot bring down someone who is free on the inside. I want to be free, to think freely and write freely. I am free to do so.”

Khashoggi’s inclusion in MBS’s meeting with the clerics and intellectuals in 2016 showed that he mattered, that the kingdom’s rising new leader saw him as a voice worth winning over. MBS told the assembled men about his economic plans and spoke about politics, warning of Iran’s growing influence in Sudan, Pakistan, and Djibouti.

When Khashoggi’s turn came to speak, he asked MBS why he did not speak about such issues publicly.

You are the journalists, the prince said. If you want to write about it, go ahead.

The men had convened after the sunset prayer, and the conversation continued until they performed the last prayer of the day together. It was Khashoggi’s first brush with MBS, and he came away believing he had been given a mandate to write about, and even critique, the prince’s reforms. He wrote later that year: “This is also what the man of the Vision, Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, promised in a meeting that brought together intellectuals, saying, ‘There will be a role for journalism in monitoring its implementation.’ And we as journalists want that role.”

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