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published photo, Bandar al Galoud
Saad Al Jabri
Documents have revealed that two of the trials in which Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and a former Saudi intelligence official are fighting threaten to reveal highly sensitive US government secrets, which could prompt Washington to engage in the process. a rare judicial intervention.
The cases in US and Canadian courts revolve around corruption charges brought by Saudi companies against Saad al-Jabri, a former intelligence official who has worked closely with US officials on covert counterterrorism operations .
This represents the latest development in the long-standing dispute between Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and al-Jabri.
Al-Jabri was in charge when former crown prince Mohammed bin Nayef took power before being ousted in 2017.
The legal dispute highlights high-profile rivalries with the Saudi royal family, but Washington fears a standoff in the courtroom may reveal some very sensitive US government secrets.
Agence France-Presse said a rare lawsuit filed by the US Department of Justice in a Massachusetts court in April indicated Jabri’s intention to “report information related to relevant national security activities.” .
“The (US) government is considering whether it can do this and how, including, if necessary and possible, confirmation of relevant government concessions,” the lawsuit said, without further details.
In a second trial a month later, the Justice Department asked the court for more time because national security issues require “nuanced and complex” judgments from senior officials. “
The lawsuit said the government was prepared to “submit more information” to the court in secret.
Legal experts say Washington could invoke a “state secret privilege,” which would allow it to resist a court order to release information deemed harmful to US national security.
The CIA declined to comment to the media. The Justice Ministry, which experts say rarely intervenes in civil cases, did not respond to a request for comment from Agence France-Presse.
“settling scores”?
Last year, Jabri alleged in another lawsuit that MBS sent a “Tiger Squad” to kill him in Canada, where he lives in exile while holding two of his sons to force him to return home.
The dispute took a new turn in March, when the Saudi state-linked Scape Holding Company accused Al-Jabri of embezzling $ 3.47 billion while working for the Interior Ministry. under Mohammed bin Nayef, and asked a Massachusetts court to freeze its $ 29 million real estate assets. in Boston. .
It came weeks after several Saudi state-owned companies filed lawsuits against Al-Jabri in Toronto over similar allegations. A Canadian court subsequently announced a blanket freeze on al-Jabri’s assets.
published photo, AFP / Getty Images
Mohammed bin Salman (left) removed his predecessor, Mohammed bin Nayef (right) from the throne in 2017
While Al-Jabri’s legal team has denied any financial wrongdoing, he said he was a victim of the deteriorating relationship between Mohammed bin Salman and Mohammed bin Nayef, which has not been seen in public since. his arrest in March 2020.
Scape, which court records show was created by Mohammed bin Nayef in 2008, was part of a network of companies that covered covert security operations with the United States.
In order to prove his innocence, the court will have to investigate Scape’s finances, including how they were used to “finance sensitive programs” carried out in partnership with the CIA, the National Security Agency and the US Department of Defense. , according to a memo. provided by Jabri.
A source close to the former intelligence official told AFP that “Dr Saad will never reveal the secret counterterrorism projects that have saved thousands of lives, including Americans.”
He added: “Unfortunately, Mohammed bin Salman’s indiscriminate retaliation against Dr Saad has trapped him in a position where he is forced to do so, in order to defend himself in court.”
“Putting lives at risk”
While the Justice Department considers measures to prevent any disclosure of state secrets in Massachusetts, it is not yet clear how it could do the same in Ontario court, on which it did no direct influence.
The source close to al-Jabri admitted that any disclosure of information could endanger “those who participated in (anti-terrorist) operations and reveal similar sources and methods of operations in the future.”
A US attorney representing Mohammed bin Salman declined to comment on the lawsuit.
In a statement to AFP, a Saudi official said the lawsuits were “between private parties” and that “the Saudi government is not involved”.
A source close to the Saudi leadership repeated allegations of billions of dollars in corruption, accusing Al-Jabri of “poisoning Saudi-US relations”.
Several US officials who worked with Jabri have expressed their support for him and some have admitted that he has access to sensitive information.
“Dr. Saad has worked at least directly with the CIA, FBI, Department of Homeland Security, White House, State Department and the Treasury,” former CIA official Philip Mood wrote in a affidavit in US court.
He added: “When the United States had intelligence or actionable tactical information, we gave it to Dr. Saad.”
The Justice Department said in its trial in April that it expected to communicate with both sides to understand their positions, saying it looked forward to a friendly settlement.
“The most important thing for me is that Mohammed bin Salman is holding Dr Saad’s children, and so he’s basically blackmailing him,” Daniel Hoffman, former director of the Middle East division at AFP, told AFP. the CIA. “.
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