Nine issues Mike Pompeo could press the Saudi leadership on while he is in Riyadh

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo walks with Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Oct.r 16, 2018. (Reuters/Leah Millis/Pool) (LEAH MILLIS/Reuters)

Rick Noack

Foreign affairs reporter focusing on Europe and international security

October 16 at 7:42 AM

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo arrived in Riyadh early Tuesday for talks with Saudi officials, including King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. The visit comes as the United States and other nations are demanding answers on the disappearance of Saudi Washington Post contributor Jamal Khashoggi on Oct. 2. He was last seen entering the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul.

While Saudi Arabia has so far denied any involvement, Turkish authorities believe that the prominent writer who was living in exile in the United States was killed inside the consulate.

Trump has given Pompeo the license to travel anywhere he deems necessary to reach a conclusion on the writer’s fate, but there is no lack of pressing issues to justify Pompeo staying in Riyadh a bit longer than planned. Here’s a list of only some unanswered questions for the Saudi leadership.

What happened to Jamal Khashoggi?

Despite King Salman’s reassurances, the kingdom is under growing pressure to explain how Khashoggi disappeared inside its consulate and whether he was killed.

Are you serious about this investigation?

There are reasons to doubt that the Saudis are serious about their offered cooperation with Turkish investigators, including an especially bizarre moment on Monday. Hours before Turkish investigators were for the first time allowed to search the Saudi premises, a cleaning crew arrived at the consulate’s door as journalists from all over the world were watching.

If confirmed, how do you explain that Khashoggi’s death is the result of a “botched operation”?

After two weeks of denials, any explanation that Khashoggi was accidentally killed would likely be seen as a halfhearted coverup story in the United States and Europe.

Was the Lebanese prime minister’s strange resignation last year the result of another such Saudi operation?

Last November, Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri surprisingly resigned during a stay in Saudi Arabia, which immediately sparked speculations over his freedom of movement. Hariri later put his resignation on hold and returned to Lebanon.

Others that the Saudi leadership had issues with never made it back to their countries of residence.

What happened to other Saudi activists critical of your leadership?

As my colleague Amanda Erickson summarized, Khashoggi is only the latest Saudi critic to mysteriously disappear. At least three other Europe-based Saudi nationals have been kidnapped since 2014. Their fate is uncertain.

Do you still want to turn Qatar into an island?

Saudi Arabia’s regional foe, Qatar, on Monday demanded the release of some other disappeared individuals who are believed to be held by the Saudis. The demands put a renewed spotlight at the ongoing Saudi-led blockade of Qatar, which has sparked speculations about Saudi plans to turn Qatar into an island by constructing a canal. That project would reportedly cost $750 million, according to AFP.

What are you doing to prevent the world’s “worst famine in 100 years,” which you are also responsible for?

The United States and Britain are the biggest arms exporters to Saudi Arabia, which has used their weapons systems and fighter jets to engage in a devastating war in neighboring Yemen. Saudi Arabia stands accused of targeting civilians, according to a recent Human Rights Watch report that concluded the involvement may have resulted in “war crimes.”

With more than 13 million people now at risk of starvation, the Saudi-led coalition is being criticized for its role in creating the potentially “worst famine in the world in 100 years.” Preventing that famine would cost about $2.1 billion, or about three times the reported costs of turning Qatar into an island.

When are you planning to release the female activists you’ve detained?

Saudi Arabia has arrested a number of prominent female human rights activists in recent months. Two of them, Samar Badawi and Nassima al-Sada, were placed under a travel ban in August, according to Amnesty International, which called the measures part of an “unprecedented level of persecution of human rights defenders in Saudi Arabia.”

“States such as the USA, UK or France, which can use their leverage with Saudi Arabia, have remained silent for far too long. Their silence is deafening,” Amnesty criticized.

Were the Canadians right about you?

But with the United States, Britain and France being direct suppliers of the arms used in that conflict, Saudi Arabia has faced only little high-level criticism from Western nations. One prominent exception is Canada.

When Pompeo’s Canadian counterpart, Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland, voiced alarm at the arrest of a Saudi women’s rights activist, Riyadh immediately expelled the Canadian ambassador in August and suspended investments and flights. But Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau doubled down on criticism of Saudi Arabia last week, saying that “we have been extremely active both in private and in public over many years now around our concern for human rights in Saudi Arabia. We will continue to be clear and strong in speaking up for human rights around the world.”

Read more:

Turkish investigators search Saudi Consulate where journalist was last seen

Let's block ads! (Why?)

Read Again https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2018/10/16/nine-issues-mike-pompeo-could-press-saudi-leadership-while-he-is-riyadh/

Bagikan Berita Ini