A high five with Putin but Saudi royal is a protected pariah at the G20 summit

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman were pleased to see each other. US President Donald Trump in in the background. Photo / Twitter, @cspan

The protesters demonstrating at a leaders summit in Argentina have unfurled a sea of standard-issue signs, ranging from "No to Imperialism" to "Yankees Go Home." But a newer rallying cry also appeared on a smattering of homemade posters. "Mohammed bin Salman, Assassin!"

For Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman - widely known by his initials, MBS - the Group of 20 leaders summit in Buenos Aires has amounted to a key test: his first appearance at a major international event since the killing of dissident writer Jamal Khashoggi.

Mohammed came to the summit a pariah to some leaders. He was positioned at the far edge of the back row in the annual "family photo". Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel had let it be known that she would not see the Prince.

He also holed up in the fortified Saudi Embassy away from the rest of the Saudi delegation after his arrival, amid moves by Argentine prosecutors to investigate human rights complaints against him.

But Mohammed was also secure in the knowledge that US President Donald Trump had said that the Crown Prince's culpability, if any, would not rupture the US relationship with Riyadh. That guarantee helped convince Mohammed that he could make the trip.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman were pleased to see each other. US President Donald Trump in in the background. Photo / Twitter, @cspan

And Mohammed has found comfort in some quarters here - a high five from a grinning Russian President Vladimir Putin, and a brief televised exchange with Trump. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi was also photographed smiling next to Mohammed.

But the man who once sought to fashion himself as the younger, fresher face of Saudi leadership has also found himself transformed into a global symbol of brutal tyranny.

He has also been taken to task.

In a conversation with the Prince, France's President Emmanuel Macron called for international investigators to join the probe into Khashoggi's killing, and stressed "the necessity of a political solution" to the Saudi-backed war in Yemen. "The Khashoggi case is serious and I think the truth needs to be sought," he said. A heated conversation between the two was captured on mic. "I do worry. I am worried. I told you," Macron says. "Yes, you told me, thank you very much," the Prince says. "You never listen to me," Macron responds.

Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan slammed the Saudis for their contradictory statements and lack of cooperation with Turkish investigators probing the assassination. During her one-on-one with Mohammed, Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May refused to discuss key economic issues. Instead, May, a government spokesman said, raised the Khashoggi assassination, saying Saudi Arabia needed to "take action to build confidence that such a deplorable incident could not happen again," according to the Guardian.