Fugitive Saudi official files complaint in US court

A former Saudi official wanted in the Kingdom on corruption charges has filed a complaint in the US against the Saudi government, Al Arabiya reported.

In the 106- page unproven complaint, former Interior Ministry official Saad Al Jabri reportedly makes a variety of political accusations against the Kingdom, presenting himself as being at odds with Saudi Arabia's foreign policy positions on Yemen and its apparent decision to "allow" Russia to intervene in Syria.

After Al Jabri's statements surfaced online, observers pointed out that the former Interior Minister official was not involved in foreign policy when he was a government employee and seemed to be politicising a corruption case.

"Saad Al Jabri is a security officer. He never had a say over any political decision and he wasn't part of the political decision-making process. In fact, no one at the interior ministry has any impact on relations with Russia or any other international relations," said veteran Saudi Arabian journalist and writer Abdul Rahman Al Rashed. "He claimed he was against Saudi Arabia allowing Russia to intervene in Syria. Well, Saudi Arabia, or any other regional state, can't tell Russia what to do in the region," he added.

Al Jabri's role was instead to serve as righthand-man to then-Interior Minister Mohammed Bin Nayef until he fled the Kingdom in 2017. "As a security official, nobody would ask Al Jabri about his views on politics or international relations. He might have his own personal opinions on international matters, but these opinions are insignificant in government decision-making," explained Al Rashed.