Riyadh leaders are working to secure Muhammad bin Salman’s judicial immunity in the United States, using the means to increase oil and gas prices.
Pak Sahafat- a Saudi official told the Saudi WikiLeaks website that Riyadh officials were in talks with Washington to grant immunity to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman.
The Saudi diplomat, who did not want to be named, said that progress had been made and that talks were moving forward. He claimed that the development was due to an understanding on oil production and the crisis in Russia and Ukraine.
According to him, “Mohammad bin Salman is trying to take advantage of the Ukraine crisis and the rise in oil prices for personal gain, especially to increase his position in the United States; among other things, to insure himself against some lawsuits, such as the murder of Jamal Khashgechi or the attempted assassination of Saad al-Jabri in US courts. Al-Jabri, who fled to Canada in 2017, filed a lawsuit against bin Salman in a Washington court in 2020, accusing him of plotting to assassinate him. Al-Jabri is said to have documents that could be used harshly against bin Salman, which is why the Saudi Crown Prince is seeking his extradition to Saudi Arabia.
Saudi diplomatic sources have previously said that the Riyadh government is deeply concerned about the conviction of Mohammed bin Salman in the case of Saad al-Jabri, a former Saudi intelligence official, and has therefore asked the Washington administration to grant bin Salman immunity, but has met with strong opposition from the Americans.
According to Saudi sources, the Saudi Foreign Ministry made the request to its American counterpart, but heard the answer that bin Salman could not have judicial immunity, and in addition, there are cases against him that are still pending in the courts.
The sources also said that Muhammad bin Salman had taken strong action and used pressure groups to rule in his favor in court. The Saudi cabinet also approved a large sum of money for the use of pressure groups in the United States, so that “Saad al-Jabri” would not go anywhere in his complaint against bin Salman.
Bin Salman attempts to take advantage of the Ukraine crisis
But now with the war in Ukraine and rising energy prices, the Wall Street Journal writes that Joe Biden recently tried to talk to Mohammed bin Salman and Mohammed bin Zayed, but they did not respond. White House officials told the paper that bin Zayed and bin Salman had not responded to Biden in recent weeks and had been outspoken in their criticism of US policy in the Persian Gulf region.
Riyadh and Abu Dhabi have told the Americans that they are not willing to inject more oil into the market and will abide by the agreement they have reached with other OPEC members. On the other hand, while the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia and the UAE did not respond to Joe Biden’s calls, they both spoke by telephone with Vladimir Putin last week.
In the meantime, midterm elections will be held in a few months, and the leaders of Saudi Arabia and the UAE, given their relationship with the Democratic government in recent years, will not hesitate to pave the way for a Republican victory.