If U.S. and Canadian intelligence services assess that Saudi Arabia deployed an assassination squad to Canada, the United States must respond. At the very least, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo should demand an explanation from Saudi Ambassador Reema Bandar al Saud.
I note this concern in light of the complaint filed in federal court on Thursday by former Saudi intelligence officer Saad al Jabri. As I reported in May, Jabri is an extraordinary ally of the U.S. and British intelligence services. During his government service, Jabri was instrumental to the successful infiltration of al Qaeda, helping save hundreds of innocent lives in the West.
But Jabri has been hiding in Canada since 2017, forced to flee Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s efforts to throw him in prison (or worse). In response, Jabri’s children have been detained by Saudi authorities and used as leverage to try and force his return. Thursday’s brief takes matters to an entirely new level, however. His legal team explained why the crown prince might want him dead. “Few places hold more sensitive, humiliating, and damning information about defendant bin Salman than the mind and memory of Dr. Saad — except perhaps the recordings Dr. Saad made in anticipation of his killing.” The document continues, “That is why defendant bin Salman wants him dead, and why defendant bin Salman has worked to achieve that objective over the last three years.”
This is an aggressive filing to be sure. The threat of incriminating information on the crown prince will only fuel the latter’s ferocious drive to bring Jabri to heel. Still, the key here is in assuring that bin Salman knows he cannot simply eradicate his political opponents in the West.
While Jabri’s claims on the assassination team are unproven, they fit with the crown prince’s modus operandi. The future Saudi king directed the assassination of dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018, and his agents have plotted similar attacks around the world since then. The Canadian government also lends credibility to Jabri’s allegations, with security minister Bill Blair telling the BBC that he is “aware of incidents in which foreign actors have attempted to monitor, intimidate, or threaten Canadians and those living in Canada.”
Canada is one of America’s very closest allies, and it has shown the fortitude to stand with the U.S. amid very significant pressure from China. Regardless, it is outrageous to learn that Riyadh might be plotting assassinations on Canadian soil. This is the kind of behavior expected from Vladimir Putin, not a longstanding American ally like Saudi Arabia.
Yes, it is manifestly in America’s interest to maintain a close and cooperative relationship with Mohammed bin Salman. But that relationship cannot come at any cost whatsoever. If the U.S. intelligence community is confident in these assertions, Pompeo must summon the Saudi ambassador and demand an immediate explanation. The hit-squad game must end.
