Former Saudi spymaster living in Canada seeks U.S. help for his jailed children
CTV
A former top Saudi intelligence official who is living in exile accused Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on Sunday of targeting him, and made an unprecedented public plea to the Biden administration to help obtain the release of his children jailed in Saudi Arabia.
Saad al-Jabri was long an aide to another Saudi royal, Prince Mohammed bin Nayef, whom bin Salman, or MbS, ousted as heir to the throne in a 2017 palace coup. MbS is now de facto ruler of Saudi Arabia, the world's top oil exporter and a U.S. ally.
In August 2019, Jabri, who now lives in Canada, filed a 107-page lawsuit in a U.S. court alleging that the crown prince "dispatched a "hit squad" to kill him in October 2018 and that Canadian authorities foiled the attempt.
Last year, a Saudi court jailed two of Saad al-Jabri's adult children for money laundering and conspiracy to escape the kingdom unlawfully, charges they deny.
In his first interview since leaving the kingdom, Jabri said MbS has "no empathy," and that the 36-year old leader is a threat to the people of Saudi Arabia, Americans and the rest of the world.