SAUDIS ‘PUT PRESSURE ON’
MEETING AFTER MP CRITICISM:
AWELSH MP has told how he was pressured by a key figure reportedly being held partly to blame by the Saudi regime for the murder of a dissident Saudi journalist in the country’s consulate in Istanbul.
Stephen Doughty, the Labour MP for Cardiff South and Penarth, said he was contacted by Ahmed al-Asiri last year after publicly criticising Saudi Arabia for human rights abuses in Yemen.
Al-Asiri was sacked earlier this month as Saudi’s deputy head of intelligence following the death of Jamal Khashoggi.
Mr Doughty said al-Asiri came to see him at the House of Commons.
“I had raised concerns about the Saudis’ actions in Yemen, as had other MPs, and they were obviously unhappy at the criticism,” he said.
“They have a sophisticated PR machine and al-Asiri tried to persuade me there was no reason to be concerned. It was all done with smiles. His aim was to get me to tone down my criticisms, something I wasn’t prepared to do.
“I was invited to the Embassy and agreed to go. I believe the Crown Prince, Mohammad bin Salman, may have been in another part of the building at the time, but he didn’t make an appearance.”
The MP said it was suggested to him that he should go on a sponsored trip to Saudi Arabia, but he turned the offer down.
“As a gay MP I was quite uncomfortable about the idea of going there, and told them that. They said everything would be all right, but I had no intention of going.”
Earlier this month, someone known to Mr Doughty sent him an article from the New York Times that implicated al-Asiri in the Khashoggi affair.
The story said: “The rulers of Saudi Arabia are considering blaming a top intelligence official close to Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman for the killing of Jamal Khashoggi.”
According to the newspaper, it had been made aware of this by three sources.
The story continued: “The plan to assign blame to Major General Ahmed al-Asiri, a high-ranking adviser to the Crown Prince, would be an extraordinary recognition of the magnitude of international backlash to hit the kingdom since the disappearance of Mr Khashoggi, a prominent Saudi dissident.
“Blaming General al-Asiri could also provide a plausible explanation for the apparent killing and help deflect blame from the Crown Prince.”
Mr Doughty said: “I was shocked to learn that al-Asiri was implicated in the Khashoggi murder.
“This has heightened my concerns about the level of access to Parliament available to foreign powers.
“A number of countries – not just Saudi Arabia – have Embassy officials who spend a great deal of time lobbying MPs. They are interested in getting MPs on their side and take them on expenses-paid trips to the country concerned. Sometimes they get lavish presents.
“In the case of Saudi Arabia, there are MPs who will always support the Saudi line.”
Mr Doughty said he also had concerns about the security implications: “Obviously these Embassy officials have to go through the same security checks as anyone else when they come into the Palace of Westminster. But the fact is that officials of some countries are spies. They could be bringing in equipment that would enable them to bug MPs’ offices.
“A number of countries have officials coming in regularly, including Russia. I think this whole question of access to the Palace of Westminster by officials working for foreign powers is something that should be looked at seriously.”