MBS denies sending hit squad to kill former Saudi spy in Canada

Saudi Arabia(CeelWaaqNews)- Motion to dismiss case against Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman claims sovereign immunity from US courts.

Lawyers for Saudi Crown Prince Mohamed bin Salman (MBS) on Monday evening filed a motion to dismiss a lawsuit against him, saying there is no evidence to support claims he ordered a hit squad to assassinate a former Saudi intelligence official and that he is immune from charges in a US court.null

The 106-page lawsuit (PDF) was filed in August on behalf of Saad al-Jabri, an exiled former aide to former Crown Prince Mohammed bin Nayef, a former heir to the Saudi throne who was overthrown in a 2017 palace coup that left MBS as the country’s de-facto ruler.

Jabri claims he obtained information during his time as an aide and as a top intelligence official that could be threatening to MBS, which motivated the Saudi crown prince to organise an assassination attempt against al-Jabri using the so-called “Tiger” hit squad.

The lawsuit says the alleged attempt took place 13 days after members of the Tiger squad were involved in the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on October 2, 2018.

The lawsuit says the plot was thwarted when the members of the Tiger squad arrived at the Canadian border and aroused suspicion of security officials.null

But Michael Kellogg, a lawyer representing MBS, said in the 87-page motion to dismiss that Jabri “can say whatever he wants to the newspapers. But this case does not belong in federal court”.Friends of murdered Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi hold posters bearing his picture as they attend an event marking the second-year anniversary of his assassination in front of Saudi Arabia Istanbul Consulate, on October 2, 2020 [Ozan KOSE/AFP]The filing claims that because al-Jabri is a dual Saudi-Maltese citizen living in Canada, where the alleged attempt on his life took place, he has no right to bring the case before a US court.

According to the motion, “even taking Aljabri’s allegations as true, he does not and cannot allege that the supposed attempt on his life in Canada was caused by any conduct in the United States.”

The suit was filed in the US under the Alien Tort statute and the 1991 Torture Victim Protection Act, which allows for complaints against foreign nationals.