A series of new allegations against Saudi Arabia’s Mohammed bin Salman (MbS) was reported in American and British newspapers last week. But experts say non is going to change US and UK’s supportive stance for the young Crown Prince.
Early last week, a series of new allegations against the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia Mohammed bin Salman hit the headlines in the US and British media, reinforcing a new wave of scrutiny regarding MbS’s controversial actions during his rise to power.
Writing headlines like “Saudi Prince Mohammed bin Salman’ FORGED his father’s signature to launch Yemen invasion,” they reported that Saad al-Jabri, a former top Saudi intelligence official has accused bin Salman of “forging his father King Salman’s signature to deploy ground troops to Yemen in 2015, as well as conspiring to murder former King Abdullah to make way for his father’s reign.”
The shocking allegations, which also were addressed in a BBC documentary ‘The Kingdom: The World’s Most Powerful Prince’, include bin Salman’s governance, his involvement in the Yemen war, the blockade of Qatar, the infamous Ritz-Carlton “shakedown” of Saudi billionaires and officials, and the 2017 saga in which Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri was forced to resign on Saudi TV.
This is while the young Crown Prince is still in the public memory around the world for his involvement in Jamal Khashoggi’s murder at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul nearly six years ago.
MbS still a sweetheart for the West despite new allegations!
Despite all these allegations against MbS, experts believe that he will still remain a darling for the Western countries, especially for Washington and London.
“I don’t think the US government has any interest right now in putting pressure on MbS – certainly not … in this manner right now, or in any other manner,” said Dr William Lawrence, a professor of political science and international affairs at American University’s School of International Service.
“I do know that there are people in the US and Britain that continue to put pressure on MbS, going back to his rise to power and subsequent firings, and going back to the Khashoggi murder. Those people kind of come and go in the media, and I would just call this a coming in the media of that crowd. There are Americans and British people in the crowd, some of whom have connections to both governments. But there’s no governmental effort going on here,” he added.
Specifically speaking of UK,” Dr Andreas Krieg, an associate professor at King’s College London said that “at this point, policymakers in London are not motivated to leverage pressure on MbS or Saudi Arabia as a country. The UK has no real issues with MbS’s Saudi Arabia beyond human rights issues – at the moment at least.”
