sharma. our top story: the bbc uncovers details of a secret deal that let hundreds of is fighters escape from raqqa when it fell to us—backed forces last month. hundreds of so—called islamic state fighters and their families escaped in exchange for hostages. some of those who left included is's most notorious criminals. president trump wraps up his foreign tour in the philippines, boasting of his great relationship with rodrigo duterte and leaving open how much human rights were discussed. and this video is trending on bbc.com: the moment these children got a lucky escape in norway. a lorry head straight for them, but thankfully the quick—witted driver braked just in time. nobody was hurt. stay with bbc world news. now on bbc news, it's time for hardtalk. welcome to hardtalk.

i'm stephen sackur. there are no tanks on the streets of riyadh, but make no mistake, what has just happened in saudi arabia represents a revolution of sorts. king salman and his son, crown prince mohammed, have launched a purge of princes and ministers and potential rivals, which is part of a grand plan to entrench their power and transform the country. my guest is saudi journalist, commentator, and current political exile, jamal khashoggi. is the saudi drama about raw power or real reform 7 jamal khashoggi, in washington, welcome to hardtalk.

thank you for having me. well, it's a pleasure. you have been calling for a long time now for reform in the kingdom of saudi arabia. we now see a man at the top who appears determined to deliver on reform. are you delighted with what you are seeing in the saudi capital? i might sound throughout with the show with conflicting messages. yes, i am for reform. but i'm also worried for one—man rule. we arabs have suffered a great deal with one—man rule. one—man rule is always problematic, always ends with disaster, whether in germany, or in iraq, or in saudi arabia.

saudi arabia wasn't a democracy, but it used to be ruled by consensus, not between us, the people, and the royalfamily, but within the royal family itself. and maybe that safeguarded saudi arabia in the past from adventurous policies. but today it is ruled only by one man. not even within the family. he has no—one close to him, even within the family. he is the sole, uh, leader of saudi arabia. he owns the future of saudi arabia. it is up to him to drive us to prosperity and reform, or wars, we don't know. let me just be clear. when you talk about one man, are you talking about the mohammad bin salman, the crown prince and the heir—apparent, or are you talking about the actual king of saudi arabia, king salman? let's face it, the monarch is king salman, but i suspect you are not talking about him. i am talking about

crown prince mohammed. king salman has delegated all responsibility to his son. not officially, but in reality. all right. your point about the end of consensual decision—making within the royal family raises an important question. and surely, mohammed bin salman and his father are delivering a simple message, there are very many corrupt people in the royal family. they have now put under arrest 11 princes being detained in the comfort of the ritz—carlton. and the message is quite clear. these people have been responsible of milking the kingdom of billions and billions of dollars. yes. very much correct. corruption in saudi arabia is endemic. it has depleted saudi resources. it has corrupted even the mindset of the business environment. and it had to end. and we, saudi writers, have been saying that.

so, he has to do that. but is he doing it the right way? it is selective so far. i can add to the list 10 others, royals and non—royals, who are corrupt. for every single person arrested, there has to be 10 others who should be with them. and then the council is corrupted itself. what is corruption? it is still being practised until today in saudi arabia. so, there is a need for transparency. there is need for a role for the media and open dialogue about it, of which there is none. you have to start somewhere. clearly, he started with a very dramatic move against, we believe, at least 500 people, and i hear there will be more arrested in the next few days.

and the message from mohamed bin salman to these people seems to be quite simple, you have taken from the kingdom and its oil riches all of these hundreds of billions of dollars and we want to take the money back so the people of saudi arabia can enjoy the fruits of these riches. surely that is a message that resonates with all the people in the kingdom. i think we should give him the benefit of the doubt. but at the same time, should not we discuss that in saudi media, in a consultative body? those things are essential. yes, we need to crush radicalism and corruption, but it is being done by one direction by one—man rule. are you saying there is no space at all to discuss the nature of bin salman‘s initiatives, including the anti—corruption drive?

i know that saudis are extremely wired to social media, one of the most pervasive twitter using nations in the world. all sorts of young saudis have tweeted. here are a few i will quote. this man says "mbs represents the saudi dreams we have been waiting for. "thank god we now have a vision and a prince to carry forward our ambitions." another person says this. "a leader speaking for the benefit of the future. mbs is our man." this person says "we have an extraordinary crown prince, the saviour of our generation, working for a great leap towards the future!" there is the voice of young saudis! very much correct. and if i was to speak like them, i would also be in saudi arabia. but there are other voices,

and they are not being heard. they are being told to be silent. they have signed things at offices saying they will stay silent. the list of saudis banned from travel is growing every day. are you notjust feeling a little personally sour, because you have run into problems with the regime because some of the comments you have made on twitter in the past few months and it has become clear you are persona non—grata in riyadh. and also your former boss, prince waleed, one of the richest men in saudi arabia, he is also in detention as well, and you have been ordered to be silent. it is insulting to be told to be silent. i am more worried than sour. i am worried for my country. i cannot retire in america happily

and just write unimportant issues and go on with my life. what is worrying me the most is one—man rule. we need reform, but one—man rule is bad, as i said earlier. it always goes wrong in any country, whether it is saudi arabia, or germany, or iraq... we will get to the nature of autocracy in just a moment, but just to focus on your former boss, prince waleed, someone we are familiar with, one of saudi arabia's richest and most prominent business people. he owns hotels around the world and has huge stakes in some

of america's businesses. there he is in detention in the ritz—carlton in riyadh. are you saying there are no grounds to be holding him and that is a purely political act by mohammad bin salman? no, i am not saying that. there has to be an investigation. if there is corruption, perhaps the authorities know better than i. but as far as i know, he was not a threat to prince mohammed bin salman, and was in fact supportive of him. a few days before his arrest, he sent me a text message urging me to come back to saudi arabia. and i am quoting him. he said "enlightened minds like you should be with us, joining my brother, prince mohammed, in building the fourth state." that was him talking to me and asking me to return. he was very much supportive and was not challenging the crown prince. that is very interesting. you are suggesting to me that

prince waleed, one of the key figures in all of this drama, had no idea, even 48 hours before being detained, he had no idea that this was coming. yes, exactly. he sent me this message and i am sure he sent to many other people because that his habit. he wanted prince mohammed bin salman to know that he is supporting him. have you spoken to him by text or any other form of communication since he was detained? no. i texted him but there was no reply. let's talk about the stability of the leadership now. you say it is all about one man, it's all about crown prince mohammed bin salman. he's moved against some of the most powerful princes in the house of saud, including the former head of the national guard, prince mutaib, and others. do you believe his grip now is absolutely unchallengeable? yes, i think so. i do not think the royals can even gather and create a front

against him for a number of reasons. number one, they are so fragmented. number two, they lack a leader. they don't have that leader, a moral leader, who can stand for values and for saudi arabia, who is totally independent and respected by all of them. and lastly, because he is using the stick of corruption, and if not all, most of them, somehow, they are involved in some form of corruption or abuse of power. so, he has the upper hand on those issues. so, i think he has won for now, but his biggest threat is not the royals, clergy, but the economy. he has to succeed in the economic front.

i will talk to you about that in just a second. but a thought about what we might learn from notjust saudi arabia but arab nations experiencing uprisings since the first arab spring in early 2011. surely the message of all of this is that street protests and toppling governments into a world of chaos has been very negative for the nations of the arab world. what mohamed bin salman seems to be saying is "i know we have to transform ourselves, we have to modernise, we have to change, and i will be that agent of change." yes. you call him in autocrat, comparing him to putin, hussein, and others, but surely the message of the last two years is that the best hope a nation, an arab nation, like saudi arabia has. someone who wants to use his power for genuine reform and change. not by choice, by fact, de facto.

he is the best choice for saudi arabia. that is what they are saying, they wish him luck. he has to succeed. that is what will decide the future of saudi arabia and also his future. it is for him to succeed. the people of saudi arabia are very much believing in mohammad bin salman today. he hardly has any opposition. he hardly has any serious opposition, we'll say. so, he has all of the floor for himself for the next few years to implement his plan. 0k, and now to the detail of the plan. you refer to the vision of 2020, sorry, 2030. it has various elements to it. starting with the economy, he says he wants to develop a purely post—oil saudi arabian economy, investing in technology and building a new city in the north—west, some calling it a robot city, such will be the reliance

on new technology. he wants a massive infrastructure spend. are you suggesting to me that this is all fantasy, he cannot deliver on this? no, he can probably build the cities but will the cities succeed? we have built two cities in saudi arabia which have not succeeded. king abdullah financial city and king abdullah industrial city. i have been to one of them. i have seen the grand ambition. the city was pretty empty when i was there. but it is all about the ability of saudi arabia to transform itself from a fairly sort of crude oil economy to something that is fit for purpose in the 21st century as a global leading economy

and surely that ambition has to be saudi arabia's future? i see two to faults in the vision and i wish i could express those in a local saudi newspaper, and we need to do that in saudi arabia. number one, it is a styled darwin approach. that will not work for a country as big as saudi arabia. it would work for a small country, a city—state like dubai, doha or abu dhabi but not saudi arabia. also, it is not based onjobs. saudi arabians are addicted to foreign labour. we need to resolve the culture ofjobs and saudis will go back to work. there are 4 million saudis who are not in jobs today, not 2 million as the government suggests. the actual number is 4 million.

every year, 250,000 young saudis go to the job market. that is his biggest task and he should spend more time on this problem rather than building a new city in saudi arabia. but you said the young people appear to be overwhelmingly with him and one reason is notjust because he talks about this new economic proposition but he also talks the language of fundamental social change, not least for women in saudi arabia. he has decreed that all women will be able to drive legally come the summer of 2018. he is giving them places on the consultative shura council. they are going to be free to attend sports events. this is very important stuff, isn't it? he is signalling that saudi arabia's culture, its social life, it is fundamentally changing.

very much, and i campaigned for it and many other writers campaigned for it. it was an issue that we were pushing for almost every single day. but now we have put that behind us and we are moving forward and he is enjoying all the support from the young people. he needs to look at the unemployment issue. he has to providejobs for millions of saudis. i don't think that can be done from this top—down approach by building new cities but rather, starting from scratch and bringing back the culture of work to the saudi society. the culture of work among saudis is dead because of our addiction to foreign labour over the last a0 years. almost every single job is done by a foreigner and we need to be free from that.

what about the religious element to all of this? in a keynote speech just last month, mohammed bin salman pledged, and i'm using his words, to return saudi arabia to moderate islam. there is a very complicated relationship between the rulers of the kingdom and the leading clerics and religious authorities in saudi arabia. can he deliver on this shift of the religious tenor and tone of the kingdom? yes, he can. because in the court of history, young people are becoming more and more moderate. number two, he only needs to unplug government support for radicalism. radicalism was tolerated by the government. radicalism in saudi arabia that was put into the saudi curriculum, the saudi education

system, the saudi mosques, it was allowed and tolerated by the government. it the government pulled the plug, those clergies dependent on the government, they will go back home and seek their own safety. the reason why so many people, not least in the white house behind you, care about what is happening in saudi arabia is because of the strategically important role the kingdom plays in the region. mohammed bin salman has, if you like, been the director of saudi arabia's military assault on the houthi rebels in yemen and seems to be choreographing a very co—ordinated move, for example encouraging former prime minister hariri to resign in lebanon, getting tough with iran, sending signals to qatar, that qatar's radicalism will not be tolerated any more.

is all these different ways in which saudi arabia is flexing its muscle, will be intensified in the coming months and years? it has to succeed. before it could intensify, what about its chance of success? that worries us. as a citizen, i want to stop iranian expansionism, sectarian expansionism but i don't want war with the iranians, it will damage both countries. i would like to see saudi arabians more inspired for change, such as the arab spring. it is not a conspiracy as many saudi people suggest. young people in a egypt, in syria, they want better regimes, they want a say in their government. unfortunately, i see my country countering such aspirations. that could drive iran and isis and radicalism away from the region by placing those factors of change which are still happening in yemen, in syria.

in yemen, saudi arabia can play a role in bringing all yemenis together to find a power—sharing formula and that will end the war. but that is not happening. i wonder if you believe whether mohammed bin salman is seriously contemplating warwith iran? i hope not. we have to wonder what kind of exchange is having with the american administration and the americans giving promises they cannot fulfil. are the americans behind this drum of war that has been sounded by us, the saudis? it's not clear yet.

i don't think the americans will fight on our behalf but who is going to do the fighting? i hope not saudi arabia. even though i would like iran out of our region, war with iran is very bad. final question — you warned me that i might find some of your positions confusing or conflicted and i have. throughout the course of this conversation, you have suggested that many of the things mohammed bin salman is trying to do is the right thing for saudi arabia but you have also in this interview compared him to autocrats including putin, saddam hussein and others. you ultimately believe he represents saudi arabia's best chance and will you at some point go home to try to be part of the change and reform of your kingdom?

i have no option but to wish he leads saudi arabia because i will not vote him out — we don't have elections in saudi arabia. he won the throne, really. even within the family. there is no serious competition or threat to him, even within the family. i wish i could go home but the environment is not welcoming to me or any other saudi writers, economists who are independent. all the people around him are yes—men and he wants that. he thinks he can do it alone. he thinks he is that, he thinks he's the leader the country has been waiting for so i willjust settle for my role to be here in washington and hopefully provide a loyal opposition. jamal khashoggi, we thank you for being on hardtalk.

thank you very much. hi there. yesterday was a pretty chilly day, with temperatures between five and seven celsius. it was even cold enough for a bit of snow in scotland, i know many of us go nuts for snow, but these scenes are likely to be short—lived, because the air is going to be turning a little bit milder today. the cold weather we had yesterday was due to these northerly winds

moving down across the uk. but we've had a change of wind direction over the last 12 hours orso, dragging in much milder conditions. a weak weather front lying across central portions of the uk will thicken the cloud up, to bring us some spots of light rain or drizzle. but still, for most of us it is a cloudier, milder kind of day. now, first thing in the morning, these are the kind of temperatures you'll be contending with as you head outside the door, typically around 6—10 degrees. a little bit colder than that around rural parts of england, and perhaps cold enough for a touch of frost in sheltered parts of northern scotland first thing. but, for most of us, it is quite a mild start to the day. it is mild because it is cloudy, so cloudy skies for england and wales. notice that cloud thick enough to give us some bursts of rain, particularly across wales, but also some dampness at times getting across the midlands and into east anglia. north—east england, particularly over the pennines, also pretty grey. a lot of cloud first thing for northern ireland. 10 degrees in belfast, mild conditions here. best of the early—morning sunshine will be across much of scotland, although there will be a few

showers in the far north. through the rest of the day, slow changes overall. it will brighten up, though, for north—east england. the best of the sunshine continues to be in scotland. otherwise, a lot of cloud for northern ireland, england and wales, continuing to be thick enough for occasional patches of rain, not really amounting to too much. temperatures up on those of yesterday, still a little on the cool side to the north and east of scotland. now, for tuesday night, where we see some cloud breaks, you may well see things turning rather foggy. otherwise, it stays cloudy for england and wales, and that cloud will help keep temperatures up. 8—11 degrees, the colder conditions there in scotland, again, with a frost, and probably coming a little bit sharper, as well. bear in mind, though, for wednesday, some of us may well start with some dense patches of fog. the thickness of the fog will depend on the length of those overnight cloud breaks. but, even if it doesn't start off foggy where you are, across england and wales, it will be grey fog or cloud being the order of the day. further west, after a bright start in scotland, we will see a band of rain moving into western areas. still quite cool for north—eastern

parts of scotland, but otherwise temperatures around about where they should be, really, for this time of year. on thursday, we keep cloudy conditions for much of the country. a band of rain moving southwards. cooler, fresher conditions for the north—west. that's your latest weather, bye for now. welcome to newsday. i'm babita sharma in london. the headlines: the escape of islamic state — a secret deal that let hundreds of is fighters leave the city of raqqa. the deal to get out of here is the deal that no one wants to talk about — it is raqqa's dirty secret. i'm sharanjit leyl in singapore. sounds of harmony as the asean summit. finally progress on the disputed south china sea? and when news anchors go crazy —

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