The world must stand firm against the Saudi regime
FOR 17 days Saudi Arabia lied to the world. Over more than two weeks the Middle Eastern regime insisted that journalist Jamal Khashoggi had walked out the back door of their consulate in Istanbul after applying for a marriage licence.
Turkish officials and the rest of the world were unconvinced, believing he had been brutally attacked before being dismembered for daring to criticise Saudi rulers.
Amid an unprecedented demand for answers and with growing evidence to the contrary, they stuck to story. “They” being both the Saudi royal family and their good friend, the President of the United States.
Donald Trump first said the Saudi king and his questionable son, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, didn’t know anything about it, after they spoke on the phone for 20 minutes. Trump added he had no reason to disbelieve them, before then suggesting “rogue killers” could be responsible.
Since then, Saudi Arabia’s story has had more turns than a racetrack.
With worldwide condemnation mounting, they then said Khashoggi died within the consulate after what they claimed was a fist-fight.
Trump called the royal family’s explanation credible, never appearing to question why a 59-year-old, unfit guy would decide to pick a fight against a dozen of Saudi’s elite special ops soldiers.
The new account offered by the regime of King Salman and the Crown Prince was without a shred of credibility and comes amid claims parts of the writer’s body, including his disfigured face, have been found in the grounds of the Saudi consul general’s home.
On Sunday, the Saudis’ story shifted again when foreign minister Adel al-Jubei said Khashoggi was killed in a “criminal” act committed by individuals operating “outside the scope of their authority.”
The move was seen as a way to distance the crown prince, who is alleged to have called for the killing, from any connection to the attack, in a bid to protect the billion-dollar deals the country has with the States.
Only yesterday however, police in Turkey investigating the murder were refused permission to search a well at the Saudi consulate, ratcheting up the pressure on Trump to take action.
He was criticised on Tuesday for passing responsibility to Congress to decide what action should be taken as opposed to issuing an affirmative response from the White House.
The fact that Trump would even dare say at the outset the Saudi fist-fight story was believable appears to emphasise his reluctance to punish the Saudis properly.
His refusal to pour scorn on the initial accounts is yet another worrying example whereby whatever a dictator says, Trump believes. Already we’ve seen him refuse to accept that Russia meddled in the 2016 US election after Vladimir Putin denied it, and accept Kim Jong Un’s blithe assurances that he would end North Korea’s nuclear programme.
As he surely knew, the Saudi story, which he now concedes to be the “worst cover-up ever”, was contradicted not just by evidence collected by Turkish authorities and by journalists, but also by his own intelligence community.
CIA officials have listened to an audio recording in the possession of Turks which, they say, backs up their account that Khashoggi was killed, minutes after entering the consulate, by a team of 15 men.
Five of the squad have been identified as probable members of the crown prince’s personal security detail.
Saudi Arabia is ruled by a murderous regime, who, it is alleged, helped fund the hijackers who carried out the Twin Towers attack. In fact, 15 of the 19 hijackers were from the country, and yet America still cosied up to the nation in the immediate aftermath of 9/11.
The West has a history of collapsing before the oil-rich Saudis and now world leaders appear to be at it again.
Would Trump have been so quick to believe the story if Khashoggi had been killed by those who don’t have billion dollar deals with the US?
Until justice prevails and we determine the full truth about the Khashoggi murder, Saudi Arabia’s rulers should be treated as outlaws by all who value human rights and free expression.
Businesses that withdrew this week from an investment conference in Riyadh, should continue to shun contact with the prime suspect, the crown prince, while governments should block all arms sales and deliveries.
In the meantime business as usual isn’t an option for the US or UK governments which must stop rolling out the red carpet for one of the world’s very worst abusers of human rights.