Saudi Arabia detains in-law of ex-top intelligence agent
Saudi Arabia has detained another relative of Saad al-Jabri, a former top intelligence agent who recently filed a lawsuit in a US court accusing the kingdom's crown prince of plotting to assassinate him, his family has said.
Saudi authorities had already detained al-Jabri's two adult
children and brother in March to try to force his return to the kingdom from
exile in Canada, according to reports citing the family and sources with
knowledge of the situation.
Al-Jabri was an aide to former Crown Prince Mohammed bin
Nayef, who was replaced as heir to the throne by Crown Prince Mohammed bin
Salman (MBS) in a 2017 palace coup.
In June, Reuters news agency, citing four people with
knowledge of the matter, reported that al-Jabri has access to sensitive
information that MBS fears could be compromising.
Khalid al-Jabri, Saad's son, tweeted a statement on
Wednesday which said his brother-in-law, Salem Almuzaini, was summoned on
Monday to a Saudi state security office in Riyadh where he was arrested. He has
not been seen or heard from since.
"Salem's arrest is an obvious attempt to intimidate and
blackmail my father," the statement said.
"My father filed a lawsuit this month against MBS and
two dozen others in US District Court in response to their thwarted efforts to
assassinate my father and terrorise my family. Salem's arrest is a blatant
attempt by MBS to interfere with the US judicial process."
Al-Jabri, who has lived in Canada since late 2017, earlier
this month alleged in a lawsuit filed in US federal court in the District of
Columbia that MBS sent a hit squad to kill him in 2018 but that the effort was
foiled by Canadian authorities.
The alleged incident took place less than two weeks after
the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi in the kingdom's Istanbul
consulate, sparking a global furore.
Several intelligence agencies, including the CIA, have
reportedly concluded that MBS ordered Khashoggi's killing - accusations that
Riyadh has denied.
MBS has denied ordering Khashoggi's murder but said he
ultimately bore "full responsibility" as the kingdom's de facto
leader.
Riyadh has not commented publicly on al-Jabri's lawsuit.
Earlier this month, MBS was issued a summons by the Columbia court - a summons
is an official notice of a lawsuit, given to the person or people being sued.
In his statement on Wednesday, Khalid al-Jabri said
Almuzaini had in 2017 been renditioned by Saudi authorities from the United
Arab Emirates, but was released in January 2018 after his savings were seized
and he was placed under a travel ban.
He urged for Almuzaini's release as well as his siblings
Sarah and Omar, who "have been held incommunicado in Saudi since March
because our father rebuffed MBS's demands that he return to The Kingdom".
Bin Nayef himself was detained on March 6 along with two
other senior royals in what is widely believed to be the latest in a series of
extraordinary measures by MBS to sideline rivals and remove perceived threats
to his eventual succession as king.
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