Former Saudi spy chief says Crown Prince believes he is the CIA’s source on murder of Jamal Khashoggi
A former Saudi spy chief living in exile in Toronto says the de facto leader of Saudi Arabia, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, believes he is the source of the Central Intelligence Agency’s conclusion that the ruler ordered the assassination of Saudi dissident and Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
In court documents filed Thursday, lawyers for Saad Aljabri,
who held a cabinet-rank intelligence post under deposed crown prince Mohammed
bin Nayef (known as MBN), denied allegations that he embezzled billions of
dollars from Saudi Arabia and he is urging a Canadian court to lift a freeze on
his worldwide assets.
Mr. Aljabri, referred to as Dr. Saad, said in the court
documents – prepared for a hearing on Friday – that he is a victim of a
“politically driven attack” ordered by the Crown Prince, (known by his initials
MBS), who is trying to portray him as a “criminal mastermind.”
In a civil suit filed in the Ontario Superior Court of
Justice in January, 10 subsidiaries of Tahakom Investments Co., owned by Saudi
Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund, alleged Mr. Aljabri engaged in a massive fraud,
totalling at least US$3.47-billion.
The lawsuit alleges that Mr. Aljabri has hidden funds taken
from the companies in locations that include the British Virgin Islands, Malta,
the United States and Canada.
Mr. Aljabri’s lawyers argue that the companies are
state-owned entities and they were set up by Mr. bin Nayef, when he was crown
prince, to carry out anti-terrorism activities.
They argue that Crown Prince bin Salman has tried to
assassinate Mr. Aljabri, arrested two of his children in Saudi Arabia and is
using the Canadian courts to accuse him of being a “fraudster who narrowly
escaped justice by fleeing” his native country.
“Bin Salman perceives Dr. Saad to be a significant threat
because of Dr. Saad’s close ties with the United States intelligence community,
his long relationship with bin Nayef, and the highly sensitive information
possessed by Dr. Saad,” the court documents said. “For instance, Dr. Saad
understands that bin Salman believes Dr. Saad to be the source of the CIA’s
conclusion that bin Salman was involved in the assassination of Washington Post
journalist Jamal Khashoggi in October, 2018.”
Mr. Khashoggi, a critic of MBS, was strangled and
dismembered by a 15-member team of Saudi assassins on Oct. 2, 2018, during a
visit to the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.
The former head of the CIA’s Middle East division has
previously told The Globe that he believes the Saudi lawsuit should be treated
with “great skepticism.”
“I ran the CIA’s Middle East division. I know all these
people,” Daniel Hoffman said. “Those who know Dr. Saad can’t imagine that any
of the allegations against Dr. Saad are true.”
Justice Cory Gilmore said last month she would not set aside
the freezing order until she saw more evidence, and said the plaintiffs had
presented “overwhelming evidence of fraud” to the court. The case resumes on
Friday.
Mr. Aljabri’s lawyers say the Crown Prince is behind the legal
action because he now controls the Saudi companies. They said the allegations
are the same ones the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol)
rejected when the Saudis sought a worldwide wanted-persons notice for him,
saying the allegations were politically motivated.
The lawyers said the companies the plaintiffs are citing as
evidence of fraud – entities through which hundreds of millions of dollars
flowed – were in fact used to fund clandestine counterterrorism operations,
many of which were pursued in close partnership with Western governments. The
lawyers argue this financing was “opaque by design.”
Mr. Aljabri’s legal filings said he fled for his life after
the Saudi palace coup in 2017, and refused the Crown Prince’s request that he
return. Since he fled to Canada, his life has been under threat and the RCMP
have posted a protective team outside his Toronto home.
“In October, 2018, bin Salman sent a hit squad to Canada in
an attempt to assassinate Dr. Saad, a plot that was thwarted when the assassins
were refused entry to Canada,” the court filing said. “In May 2020, bin Salman
ordered his men to renew their efforts to kill Dr. Saad.”
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