The Commercial Appeal

US moves to shield prince in killing

- Ellen Knickmeyer and Matthew Lee

WASHINGTON – The Biden administra­tion says Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s high office should shield him from a lawsuit over his role in the killing of a U.s.-based journalist, making a turnaround from Joe Biden’s passionate campaign trail denunciati­ons of the prince over the brutal slaying.

The administra­tion spoke out in support of a claim of legal immunity from Prince Mohammed – Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler, who also recently took the title of prime minister – against a suit brought by the fiancée of slain Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi and by the rights group Khashoggi founded, Democracy for the Arab World Now.

“Jamal died again today,” Khashoggi’s fiancée, Hatice Cengiz, tweeted after the U.S. filing late Thursday in her lawsuit.

The U.S. government’s finding of immunity for Prince Mohammed, sometimes known as MBS, is non-binding, and a judge will ultimately decide whether to grant immunity. But it angered rights activists and risked blowback from Democratic lawmakers. The U.S move came as Saudi Arabia has stepped up imprisonme­nt and other retaliatio­n against peaceful critics at

home and abroad and has cut oil production, a move seen as undercutti­ng efforts by the U.S. and its allies to punish Russia for its war against Ukraine.

The State Department on Thursday called the administra­tion’s call to shield the Saudi crown prince from U.S. courts in Khashoggi’s 2018 killing “purely a legal determinat­ion.” It cited what it called longstandi­ng precedent.

Despite its recommenda­tion to the court, the State Department said in its filing late Thursday that it “takes no view on the merits of the present suit and reiterates its unequivoca­l condemnati­on of the heinous murder of Jamal Khashoggi.”

Saudi officials killed Khashoggi at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. They are believed to have dismembere­d him, although his remains have never been found. The U.S. intelligen­ce community concluded Saudi Arabia’s crown prince had approved the killing of the widely known and respected journalist, who had written critically of Prince Mohammed’s harsh ways of silencing those he considered rivals or critics.

The Biden administra­tion statement Thursday noted visa restrictio­ns and other penalties that it had meted out to lower-ranking Saudi officials in the death.

“From the earliest days of this Administra­tion, the United States Government has expressed its grave concerns regarding Saudi agents’ responsibi­lity for Jamal Khashoggi’s murder,” the State Department said. Its statement did not mention the crown prince’s own alleged role.

Biden as a Democratic presidenti­al candidate vowed to make a “pariah” out of Saudi rulers over the 2018 killing of Khashoggi.

But Biden as president has sought to ease tensions with the kingdom, including bumping fists with Prince Mohammed on a July trip to the kingdom, as the U.S. works to persuade Saudi Arabia to undo a series of cuts in oil production.

 ?? LEON NEAL/POOL PHOTO VIA AP ?? Prince Mohammed bin Salman is Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler, who also recently took the title of prime minister.
LEON NEAL/POOL PHOTO VIA AP Prince Mohammed bin Salman is Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler, who also recently took the title of prime minister.

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