The US District Court for the District of Columbia has issued a summons for Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) for a lawsuit by a former Saudi intelligence official who claims he was the target of a foiled assassination bid.
Dr. Saad al-Jabri, a linguist and computer scientist who worked in Saudi’s Interior Ministry for decades, has accused the Saudi prince of deploying “personal mercenaries” to Canada—where he is currently in exile—in 2018 to try to kill him, just two weeks after the killing of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi. Al-Jabri alleges that his close ties with the US intelligence community and great “sensitive, humiliating, and damning information” about the prince’s activities have made him a prime target for the Saudi monarchy.
The complaint also states that MBS’ “Tiger squad operatives” have disappeared two of Al-Jabri’s children, and that other relatives have been “arrested and tortured” as leverage to lure him back to the Kingdom. The Saudi government has also accused Al-Jabri of corruption and has urged other countries to send him back.
The allegations in the lawsuit are yet to be proven. However, it puts Washington in an awkward position with Riyadh. Al-Jabri has been identified as a trusted counter-terrorism partner to the US’ Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), and America will have to tread this issue carefully given its warm relations and weapons deals with Saudi Arabia.
However, the US State Department has sought to help him and has repeatedly requested Riyadh to “clarify the status and nature” of the detention of his two children. Last month, Republican Senator Marco Rubio and Democratic Senators Patrick Leahy, Tim Kaine, and Chris Van Hollen issued a joint letter praising Dr. Al-Jabri for “saving thousands of American lives by discovering and preventing terrorist plots”, which prompted the State Department’s actions. The Senators said that the US had a “moral obligation to do what it can to assist in securing his children’s freedom”.
US Court Issues Summons for Mohammed bin Salman
A former Saudi intelligence official claims MBS sent personal mercenaries to kill him.
August 11, 2020
Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. SOURCE: DAILY SABAH/REUTERS