The truth is out and It would be a gross understatement to call it a contradiction. Saudi Arabia has indeed made it pretty obvious to the world that it has effected a dramatic reversal by accepting that journalist Jamal Khashoggi was butchered in a premeditated attack on October 2. The malice aforethought is thus confirmed.

The government in Riyadh, effectively helmed by Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman, had been economical with the truth ever since Khashoggi’s disappearance and the horrendous circumstances of his ultimate death inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. If the truth had continued to be swept under the carpet, the desert kingdom’s unsplendid isolation would have intensified further still. Thursday’s bombshell in a rare moment of candour serves to confirm the calculated malevolence. Even so, it shall not be easy for the royalty in Riyadh to shore up its standing.

A statement from Saudi Arabia’s public prosecutor sent from the Saudi foreign ministry said a joint Saudi-Turkish investigative team in Istanbul “indicates that the suspects in the incident had committed their act with a premeditated intention.” In its earlier claim, the Saudi government ~ after denying any knowledge of what had happened to Khashoggi ~ was riveted to the detentions without dwelling on the details. In a perfunctory explanation, it merely said that 18 people had been arrested after Khashoggi got into a fist fight with the potential assassins who were flown, on the directive of the palace, from Riyadh to Istanbul.

It has been imperative even for the likes of Donald Trump ~ a Saudi ally ~ to change his assessment, trimming his sails to the compulsions of geopolitics. In the immediate aftermath of the killing, he had defended the Saudi claims as credible, but has now distanced himself and condemned the tragedy as “the worst cover-up ever”. A cache of US sanctions remains an uncertain quantity, however. The nub of the matter must be that the comity of nations can scarcely accord credence to Saudi Arabia.

Crown Prince Salman has eventually broken his silence on the savage killing, saying the murder was a “heinous crime that cannot be justified”. Speaking at the Future Investment Initiative conference, referred to as “Davos in the Desert”, Salman sought to reassure delegates that all culprits would be punished, and pledged that Saudi Arabia and Turkey would work together to find the killers. The country’s national security agencies would be overhauled and “justice would prevail” . He was plainly playing to the truncated international gallery with his decidedly delusory assurance ~ “They will not be able to divide us as long as there is a king called King Salman bin Abdul Aziz and a Crown Prince named Mohammed bin Salman, and a President in Turkey named Erdogan.” Big names. With the principal delegates abstaining from the conference, the “desert edition” of Davos has been a virtual non-event… for all the petrodollars and women at the steering wheel. Geostrategically, the country has reversed its gears.