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2. Saudi King & Crown Prince: The game
is over!
Saudi government repeatedly explained that the incident was happened
accidentally and MbS did not involve at all. Eleven officials were immediately
repatriated, ignoring the Turkish authorities' request for interrogation[2]. And
in November 2018, public prosecutor announced that 5 out of 11 suspects would
be sentenced death penalty. Their names, however, have not been revealed.
In February 2019, Turki Aldakhil, who was a general manager of Al
Arabi TV, flunky of MbS and one of the keyman of the incident, has been
nominated as the ambassador to UAE[3]. Furthermore,
Prince Khalid, the son of King Salman and younger brother of MbS resigned from the
ambassador to the United States. The departure clearly meant to avoid
investigation on him. According to the report, Prince Khalid was consulted by
Mr. Khashoggi to go to Istanbul when they were in Washington. The prince confirmed
Khashoggi’s schedule and reported it to Riyadh. Therefore it was sure that
Prince Khalid to be concerned in the case.
And on March 1, 2019, public prosecutor declared that the
investigation was over[4]. Two
days later, six Supreme Court Justices were appointed under Royal Decrees[5]. The
appointments of new judges might have to lead to intentional judgement. There
was also a ridiculous report by foreign correspondent that Saud Al-Qahatani,
who was the top MbS advisor and seemed to hold the key to the case, has never been
called in testimony[6].
Not only the names of the defendants but also the witnesses, were not disclosed.
Everything shows the intentions of King Salman and MbS, who are rushing to
close Khashoggi’s case.
3. US Trump: Keep the card for good deals!
Mr. Khashoggi, the victim, was a journalist who contributed the
Washington Post to critical articles about Saud royal family. The US media and
Democratic Party asked for the truth. But President Trump praised MbS for being
a wise and strong man[7] and insisted
that Saudi Arabia would not betray[8]. When
the brutal murder was revealed, the President was surprised to say, "It's
awful!" However, regarding to MbS's involvement, he tweeted "It’s estimated
innocent! Trial is a domestic issue within Saudi Arabia!”
It is said that President Trump supports MbS because of the ultra-large
arms contract which was signed when MbS visited to the United States in March
2018. However, it is necessary to take into account another factor of recent
movements between the two persons. MbS has a strong connection with Jared
Kushner who is a Jewish husband of the daughter of the President. Kushner is
trying to utilize the relationship with MbS for his Middle East peace plot.
President Trump appointed Kushner as a special envoy for the Middle East peace
talk, seeking mediation in favor of Israel. The President is trying to draw
popularity of Evangelical Christians in US, who are the biggest wing of Trump
supporters.
According to the scenario, Kushner visited Saudi Arabia in
February 2019 and met with King Salman and MbS[9]. In
the meeting, Kushner had to persuade King and MbS not to lead the Arab opinion to
protest against President’s two decisions; To relocate the US embassy to Jerusalem
and to ratify the sovereignty of Israel in Golan Heights. Compensation of the
deal would be to defend MbS from international criticism related to the Khashoggi’s
murder case.
The Golan Heights was occupied by Israel in Six-Day War (Third
Middle East War) in 1967 and annexed to Israel in 1981. The world community did
not recognize the annexation. Arab and Islamic countries picked up the annexation
for uniting in anti-Israeli campaigns. Iran and Turkey were the forerunners. In
the past Saudi Arabia also advocated as the leader of Muslims and made anti-Israel
speech at the Arab Summit or OIC. Kushner might force King Salman not to stand
up as the obvious opponent. He made use of the Khashoggi’s case for the deal
with MbS.
It should be interesting that one comment was disclosed by UAE. It
was a statement of the Foreign Minister saying that Arab countries should take
an open attitude towards Israel to promote Palestinian peace[10]. UAE
used to keep pace with Saudi Arabia on regional issues. UAE sometimes acts as
the voice of Saudi Arabia, which is difficult to express real intention due to
the big economic or diplomatic influence in the region. This statement is
understandable taking the situation into consideration. It might guess that
Kushner forced the UAE to say so.
In the Palestine peace talks, it is almost certain that Saudi
Arabia, the United States and Israel are currently exchanging information
closely under the table. They are in the same boat showing their own strength
and weakness respectively. For Saudi Arabia, the strength is the dominance of
the world oil market and the purchase power of US arms, and the weakness is the
darkness of MbS.
(cont’d)
Please tell us your comments and opinions on this matter.
By Areha Kazuya
E-mail: Arehakazuya1@gmail.com
[1] Reference; ‘Telephone call between Saudi Crown Prince and Japanese
PM Abe confirms impatience of Muhammad’
[2] ‘Saudi
Arabia’s public prosecutor seeks death penalty for 5 Khashoggi suspects’, 2018/11/15,
Arab News
[3] ‘Saudi named in report on Khashoggi murder
becomes UAE envoy’, 2019/2/10, The Peninsula
[4] ‘Public
prosecution concludes investigation into group accused of undermining Saudi
Arabia’s stability’, 2019/3/1, Arab News
[5] ‘Saudi
King Salman appoints 6 new Supreme Court judges’, 2019/3/4, Arab News
[6] ‘Royal
adviser fired over Khashoggi murder absent from Saudi trial: Sources, 2019/3/24,
The Peninsula’,
[7] ‘Crown
Prince a strong man: Trump’, 2018/10/21, Saudi Gazette
[8] ‘Trump: I
don’t think the Saudis betrayed me on Khashoggi case’, 2018/10/31, Saudi
Gazette
[9] ‘Kushner meets Saudi Arabia’s King
Salman, crown prince to discuss 'increased cooperation'、2019/2/27, Arab News
[10] ‘UAE urges
Arab openness to Israel’, 2019/3/28, Kuwait Times
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