New Delhi:Referring to Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's immunity from a lawsuit over the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, a US State Department spokesperson has stated that several leaders, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, were afforded the same immunity from prosecution previously.
Asked whether other heads of state or government would be given the same protection, Vedant Patel, the Department’s Principal Deputy Spokesperson, said, “this is not the first time that the United States has done this. It is a longstanding and consistent line of effort.”
Stating that the immunity “has been applied to a number of heads of state previously”, Patel cited various examples comprising “President Aristide in Haiti in 1993, President Mugabe in Zimbabwe in 2001, Prime Minister Modi in India in 2014, and President Kabila in the DRC in 2018.”
In 2005, the US had placed Modi, who was then the chief minister of Gujarat, on a visa ban in the wake of 2002 riots. The ban was only lifted in 2014 with his election as the PM, with the United States maintaining that it had not changed its policy.
Also read: US moves to shield Saudi crown prince in journalist killing
Saudi Arabia's aged king, Salman, named his son Mohammed bin Salman as prime minister. The kingdom's laws designate the king as prime minister. King Salman had to declare a temporary exception to loan out the title, and at the same time made clear he retains key duties.
The lawsuit was filed in federal court in Washington by the fiancée of slain journalist Jamal Khashoggi and by a D.C.-based rights group he founded. It accuses the crown prince and about 20 aides, officers and others of plotting and carrying out Khashoggi's slaying at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.
The killing, condemned by US president Joe Biden on the campaign trial in 2019 as "flat-out murder" that must have consequences for Saudi rulers, is at the core of a rift between strategic partners, the United States and Saudi Arabia.
Before and immediately after taking office, Biden vowed to take a stand on Saudi Arabia's crown prince, as part of a presidency that would be based on rights and values. But Biden has since offered a fist bump and other conciliatory gestures in hopes — disappointed so far — of persuading the crown prince to pump more oil for world markets.
Biden's administration argues that Saudi Arabia is too important to the global economy and to regional security to allow the United States to walk away from the decades-old partnership.
