Saudi detains ex-intelligence official’s children to force his return from Canada
As Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman moved to tighten
his grip on power over the past few years, detaining senior royals and
opponents, one person has eluded him: a former top-ranking intelligence
official who was close to a key rival to the throne.
In recent months, the crown prince — known by the initials
MbS — has increased pressure on relatives of Saad al-Jabri, including detaining
his adult children, to try to force his return to the kingdom from exile in
Canada, the former intelligence official’s family say. In the crown prince’s
sights are documents Jabri has access to that contain sensitive information,
according to four people with knowledge of the situation.
Jabri was a long-time aide to Prince Mohammed bin Nayef, who
the crown prince ousted as heir to the throne in a 2017 palace coup that left
MbS the de facto ruler of Saudi Arabia, the world’s top oil exporter and a key
U.S. ally.
Saudi authorities detained bin Nayef and two other senior
royals on March 6, the latest in a series of extraordinary measures seen aimed
at consolidating MbS’s strength within the ruling Al Saud family and removing
perceived threats to his power ahead of an eventual succession upon the king’s
death or abdication.
Multiple top Interior Ministry officials were also detained
in March, said two of the people with knowledge of the situation – both
well-connected Saudis.
Days after bin Nayef’s detention, according to Jabri’s
family, Saudi authorities arrested two of his children, 21-year old Omar and
20-year old Sarah, in a dawn raid on the family home in the capital Riyadh.
That was followed by the detention of the former intelligence official’s
brother in early May, the family said. Three of the people with knowledge of
the situation confirmed Jabri’s relatives had been detained.
According to the four people with knowledge of the
situation, the crown prince believes he could use the documents in Jabri’s
possession against current rivals for the throne. He also fears they contain
additional information that could compromise him and his father, the king, the
four people said.
The documents include information on bin Nayef’s assets
abroad, which also potentially could be useful to MbS in putting pressure on
his predecessor, said the two well-connected Saudis and a former regional
security official. Jabri also has access to sensitive files relating to the
financial dealings of senior royals, including King Salman and MbS, said one of
the well-connected Saudi sources, the former regional security official and a
diplomat.
The diplomat said some of the information related to land
deals and transactions, without elaborating beyond saying that they related to
King Salman during his time as governor of Riyadh, a position he held for
nearly four decades prior to his 2015 ascension to the throne.
One of the well-connected Saudi sources said the crown
prince wants to press charges against bin Nayef relating to allegations of
corruption during bin Nayef’s time at the Ministry of Interior. Reuters was
unable to determine the details of those allegations.
“They have long wanted Jabri as the right-hand man of MbN,”
the person said, referring to bin Nayef.
The Saudi government has not confirmed or publicly commented
on the seizure of Jabri’s children or his brother, Abdulrahman al-Jabri. The
Saudi government media office did not respond to detailed questions from
Reuters about the detentions or the reasons behind them.
Jabri’s family and one of the well-connected Saudis said
Saudi authorities had accused Jabri of corruption but did not elaborate on the
nature of the allegations. The family says the allegations are false.
Saad al-Jabri declined to comment via his son.
Reuters couldn’t determine where bin Nayef and the other two
princes are being held and was unable to reach them for comment.
A U.S. official said Washington had raised the issue of
detention of the children with the Saudi leadership. The official added that
many U.S. government officials had worked directly with Jabri over a long
period of time and that he had been “a very, very strong counterterrorism
partner.”
A second U.S. official in Washington said the United States
was in contact with Jabri’s family in Canada and were “exploring ways to
assist.”
“We are deeply concerned by reports of the al Jabri
children’s detention and would strongly condemn any unjust persecution of
family members whatever the allegations against Saad Al-Jabri may be,” the
official said.
Canada was also concerned about the detention of Jabri’s
children, said Syrine Khoury, a spokeswoman for Canada’s foreign ministry. She
didn’t elaborate on whether Canada was taking specific steps.
‘He had all the files on everything’
For nearly two decades, Saad al-Jabri had worked closely
with bin Nayef, helping to overhaul the kingdom’s intelligence and
counterterrorism operations and building close ties with Western officials.
“He had all the files on everything and everybody,” said the
former regional security official. Jabri coordinated relations between Saudi
intelligence and the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency, the former official
said. The CIA declined to comment.
When King Salman ascended the throne in January 2015, he
appointed Jabri to a cabinet-level position. Bin Nayef became crown prince in
April 2015. Jabri’s son, Khalid al-Jabri, said that at that time the
relationship between his father and MbS was “initially really good” but the
relationship soon soured, spurred by opponents close to MbS who alleged that
Jabri was a member of the Muslim Brotherhood. The family strongly denies it.
Four months later, in August 2015, Jabri learned he had been
fired from his post via a state television announcement, said Khalid Al-Jabri,
who now lives in Canada along with his father.
Saad al-Jabri became a personal advisor to MbN, a position
he held until the royal was deposed as crown prince and removed as head of the
interior ministry in June 2017. The two well-connected Saudis and the diplomat
described Jabri as fiercely loyal to MbN.
Since 2017, when Jabri moved to Canada, Saudi authorities
have made repeated attempts to lure the former intelligence official back to
the kingdom, both directly and through interlocutors, Khalid Al-Jabri told
Reuters.
He added that his siblings had been barred from leaving
Saudi Arabia for more than two years prior to their detention and were
questioned by authorities on more than one occasion regarding their father. The
crown prince had made an offer in 2017 to Jabri senior to allow the children to
travel in exchange for his return, he said.
The family said they don’t know where Jabri’s children are
being held and aren’t able to reach them. “Every time we ask people inside
(Saudi Arabia), we’ve been told MbS is handling their detention himself. Don’t
bother asking for details,” Khalid Al-Jabri said.
Jabri’s deep knowledge of some of the kingdom’s most
sensitive information, coupled with his popularity in Western political circles
and among some long-serving Saudi security officials, made him a target,
according to his son, the diplomat, the former regional security official and a
former Western intelligence source.
The diplomat said Jabri could be perceived as a threat to
MbS if U.S. President Donald Trump, who defended strategic defense and energy
ties with the kingdom during the global uproar over Khashoggi’s death, failed
to win re-election. The White House declined to comment.
The family said it is lobbying U.S. lawmakers for help.
Senators Marco Rubio and Patrick Leahy have spoken with the family, according
to their offices. Members of Congress are concerned that “two young people have
disappeared after being seized by Saudi state security forces,” said Tim
Rieser, senior foreign policy aide to Democratic Senator Leahy. “It seems that
they’re being used as hostages to try and coerce their father to return to
Saudi Arabia,” he said. He added that the Senator’s office is seeking information
about their whereabouts and calling for their release.
The crown prince is officially next in line to the throne to
his 85-year old father, King Salman. His efforts to diversify the kingdom’s
economy away from its heavy reliance on oil and lift social restrictions,
including on women, were welcomed by many Western officials and Saudis. But the
crown prince has also drawn criticism for attempts to silence dissidents and
marginalize rivals. He came under international criticism over the 2018 murder
of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in the kingdom’s Istanbul consulate, which the
U.S. Central Intelligence Agency has said the crown prince ordered.
The crown prince has denied ordering Khashoggi’s killing but
said he ultimately bears “full responsibility” as the kingdom’s de facto
leader.
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