MBS accused of ordering dissident’s murder – another blow for Neom?

Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler, crown prince Mohammed Bin Salman (MBS), has been summoned to appear before a US district court following a lawsuit accusing him of ordering the assassination of a dissident.
As MBS’s pet Neom project desperately attempt to garner international support and funding, this could be another severe blow to its ambitions.
Ex-intelligence officer Saad al-Jabri claims in the US-filed lawsuit that MBS  “orchestrated an ongoing multi-year conspiracy by a Saudi government-sanctioned ‘death squad' to torture and assassinate” him, according to lawsuit documents.
Jabri claims that the 50-member “Tiger Squad” of assassins were sent to Canada, where he lives in exile, to kill him.
According to Middle East Eye:
“The lawsuit alleges that the squad of killers flew to Toronto with two bags of forensic tools. The personnel included those with knowledge of cleaning up crime scenes and an instructor – Mishal Fahad al-Sayed – who worked on an academic panel alongside Salah Muhammad al-Tubaigy, the man who used a bone saw to dismember Khashoggi.”
The lawsuit argues that MBS has placed a fatwa on Jabri, and that he is feared by MBS due to his former closeness to the regime and knowledge acquired at the time, which MBS believes could weaken the regime’s relationship with US president Donald Trump.
One of the major obstacles faced by Saudi Arabia in its drive to promote Neom as a vision of a modern, liberal kingdom has been its bloody determination to stamp out any form of opposition.
Most famously, the murder of prominent Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi in the Saudi embassy in Istanbul in October 2018 was at least partly responsible for celebrated architect Sir Norman Foster withdrawing his involvement from the Neom project.
The assassination was also often cited by members of the esports community in their successful opposition to a sponsorship deal between Neom and League of Legends European Championship in July.
While the Saudi regime may hope the world forgets the murder, the new lawsuit claims that MBS ordered the hit-squad to travel to Canada to assassinate Jabri just two weeks after the killing of Khashoggi.
Should any attempt to have Jabri killed be recognised by the US court, it would be another blow to Saudi Arabia’s ambition to attract global investment and support for Neom.
While Saudi Arabia’s brutal treatment of opponents is well documented, another high-profile case hitting international headlines would be a huge setback for the regime as it tries to present itself as a progressive, law-abiding state.
The summons was made by the US District Court for the District of Columbia under the Torture Victims Protection Act and the Alien Tort Statute.