Follow us on social

Shutterstock_1828825154-scaled

Pressure building to hold MBS accountable for journalist's murder

A bill to ban MBS from US soil and a federal lawsuit against the Saudi crown prince are moving forward.

Reporting | Middle East

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s troubles in Washington are mounting, as both a bill that would ban him from U.S. soil and a federal lawsuit by an organization started by Jamal Khashoggi move forward.

The House Foreign Affairs Committee announced on Thursday that it would include the Khashoggi Accountability Act in next week’s markup meeting, opening the bill to amendments and debate. The same day, lawyers for the crown prince — usually known by his initials MBS — accepted a notice to appear in a wrongful death lawsuit against him.

However, Congress did not move forward on a proposal by Rep. Ilhan Omar (D–Minn.) to impose direct penalties against the crown prince. Omar’s MBS Must Be Sanctioned Act would have frozen MBS’s assets in the United States, while the Khashoggi Accountability Act only imposes a travel ban on officials involved in the Khashoggi assassination, including MBS.

Rep. Omar’s office told Responsible Statecraft that it plans to introduce amendments to the Khashoggi Accountability Act. A spokesperson declined to provide more details.

An intelligence report declassified by the U.S. government last month found that MBS had approved of Khashoggi’s assassination inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, Turkey. The Biden administration banned unnamed Saudi officials from the United States in the wake of the report’s release, but declined to impose sanctions on the crown prince himself.

The U.S. State Department argued at the time that sanctioning MBS would “greatly diminish” U.S. influence over the kingdom. The Saudi foreign ministry said that it “completely rejects” the findings of the report.

Saudi human rights advocates have held out hope that Congress or the courts could punish MBS instead.

Khalid Aljabri, a Toronto resident whose family has been targeted by the Saudi government, told Responsible Statecraft earlier this month that personal consequences and “direct accountability” were needed to deter future attacks on Saudi dissidents abroad. 

So did Sarah Leah Whitson, founder of Democracy in the Arab World Now, an organization founded by Khashoggi before his death.

DAWN and Khashoggi’s fiancée Hatice Cengiz have both filed a wrongful death lawsuit against MBS and a host of other Saudi officials linked to Khashoggi’s death. On March 8, a federal judge allowed them to serve MBS with a notice to appear in court through a variety of unconventional means, including WhatsApp messages and newspaper ads.

The law firm Kellogg, Hansen, Todd, Figel & Frederick accepted the notice on Thursday, according to a press release by DAWN.

“While MBS may have evaded sanctions by our government for his role in the murder, he won't evade prosecution by our judicial system for the damage he has caused us and Cengiz,” DAWN executive director Sarah Leah Whitson stated in the press release.

She added in an email to Responsible Statecraft that the Khashoggi Accountability Act was an “important opportunity…to do what Biden promised but failed to do: sanction MBS. Although this bill would only ban him from traveling to the US, and MBS hasn’t dared step foot on our shores since he murdered Khashoggi, it’s a tremendously important message that the U.S. does not want murderers to enter our country.”

Photo: Kemal Aslan via shutterstock.com
Reporting | Middle East
Ukraine-Poland row exposes history, limits of devotion
Credit: Polish President Andrzej Duda (Shutterstock/BikerBarakuss) and Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky (Shutterstock/Oleksandr Osipov)

Ukraine-Poland row exposes history, limits of devotion

QiOSK

The vitriolic dispute between Poland and Ukraine brings out some aspects of the West’s approach to the war in Ukraine that the Ukrainian government would do well to study carefully.

The dispute originated in charges by Poland and other central European governments that Ukraine’s greatly increased grain exports to Europe — a consequence of the Russian closure of the Black Sea to Ukrainian maritime trade — were flooding European markets and depressing prices for Polish and other farmers.

keep readingShow less
Rep. Gerry Connolly

Rep. Gerry Connolly, screengrab via https://www.youtube.com/@FArepublicans

How members of Congress can take on Iran hawks

Middle East

During a recent House hearing on “Iran’s escalating threats,” a Democratic lawmaker completely dismantled all the myths opponents of diplomacy peddle about Iran and its nuclear program.

The hearing was dominated by hawkish voices on Iran, who urged for increasing pressure and spurned any diplomatic engagement. The only exception was Suzanne Maloney from the Brookings Institute, who took a more moderate stance.

keep readingShow less
Wall Street Journal

Editorial credit: monticello / Shutterstock.com

WSJ conceals Saudi funding of pro-Saudi nuke deal source

QiOSK

The Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday that “Israeli officials are quietly working with the Biden administration on a polarizing proposal to set up a U.S.-run uranium-enrichment operation in Saudi Arabia as part of a complex three-way deal to establish official diplomatic relations between the two Middle Eastern countries,” according to U.S. and Israeli officials.

The article, authored by Dion Nissenbaum and Dov Lieber, largely showcases Israeli opposition to the deal. Mark Dubowitz, CEO of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, a group whose mission includes providing “education to enhance Israel’s image in North America…” was quoted opposing a uranium enrichment program on Saudi soil. He warned that “we’re one bullet away from a disaster in Saudi Arabia,” adding, “What happens if, God forbid, a radical Islamist leader takes control?”

keep readingShow less

Ukraine War Crisis

Latest