Saudi Crown Prince as PM could avoid Khashoggi murder lawsuit

CROWN PRINCE Mohammed bin Salman has been appointed prime minister of Saudi Arabia in an apparent bid to shield him from a US lawsuit over the murder of Jamal Khashoggi.

The Kingdom said it made an exception to Saudi law so the Crown Prince could receive the appointment from his father, King Salman. In practical terms, it does not change the power structure as the Crown Prince, known as MBS, is already the nation’s de facto ruler.

However, being officially designated as a world leader may grant him immunity from a looming lawsuit in the US over the murder of Mr Khashoggi, an exiled Saudi who worked as a columnist for The Washington Post and was one of his most vocal critics.

The Joe Bidenwhite House had been handed a deadline by a US judge, which expires next week, for them to give a view on whether the Crown Prince should benefit from immunity.

“It seems like [Prince Mohammed] has been advised to take this step before the response was due on Oct 3,” said Abdullah Alaoudh, of the pro-democracy campaign group Dawn, which is a party to the lawsuit.

Mr Khashoggi was murdered by Saudi agents in the Kingdom’s Istanbul consulate in 2018. Prince Mohammed denies he personally ordered the killing and blamed it on rogue Saudi agents.

Mr Khashoggi’s fiancée, Hatice Cengiz, told The Guardian: “The fight for justice … will not be stopped because MBS bestows another title on himself.”

The Crown Prince appears to be making attempts to relaunch himself as a Western ally, holding talks on energy with Mr Biden. He also played a role in a recent prisoner swap between Russia and Ukraine which secured the release of British fighter Aiden Aslin.

However, at the same time Saudi Arabia has launched a crackdown on critics, with a court jailing Salma al-shehab, a Leeds University student, for 34 years for her mild criticism of the leadership.