Washington Federal Court issued subpoena orders against Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and 13 other people, to respond to Saad Al-Jabri's accusations against them of trying to assassinate him.

The court summons that Al-Jazeera saw include: Yousef Al-Rajhi and Leila Abu Al-Jadayel, who reside in the United States. The court requested a response to the allegations within a maximum period of 21 days.

Saad al-Jabri, an advisor to the former Saudi crown prince, Muhammad bin Nayef, had filed a lawsuit against Prince Muhammad bin Salman and a number of Saudi officials, including Saud Al-Qahtani, Ahmed Asiri and Badr Al-Asaker, in which he accused them of trying to assassinate him in a manner similar to the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

The lawsuit indicated that the FBI had foiled the assassination attempt at Al-Jabri in Canada, after communicating with the Canadian authorities.

Al-Jazeera correspondent Muhammad Al-Alami explained that the defendants have a period of 21 days to respond to the court, otherwise, "she will find herself compelled to issue a judgment in favor of Al-Jabri."

He indicated that the case is civil, and therefore no one will be arrested, because Al-Jabri is only asking for compensation, and if the court believes his claim, it will rule in his favor.

He said that the most important thing for Jabri in this case is for the court to take his case seriously.

He pointed out that in the lawsuit it was stated that the Saudi Crown Prince’s attempt several times to assassinate Jabri was caused by his fear that he would work to strain his relations with the US administration.

The reason for this fear is that Jabri has very close ties with the US intelligence services, "and it seems that they contributed to saving his life after I warned him about what is being hatched for him."

And he said that the public opinion of this case, the summons and media coverage, may lead to the same result that the Crown Prince was afraid of, which is to spoil his relationship with Washington.

Seriousness

Commenting on these developments, Professor of International Relations at the University of Jordan, Dr. Hassan Al-Barari considered that directing the summons to the Crown Prince illustrates the seriousness of the American judiciary in dealing with Al-Jabri's case.

He added that this dealings indicate that "there are elements of a crime that were almost complete, and therefore this lawsuit comes to give credibility and legitimacy to Al-Jabri's narration, who accuses the Saudi crown prince of trying to assassinate him more than once."

He pointed out that this development also reflects that there is no immunity for the Saudi crown prince or anyone else before American courts, as it is ready to issue a direct conviction that will have political consequences and costs, he said.

Regarding Saudi abuse, he said, "In my estimation, Saudi Arabia will not respond, meaning that it is living in a state of satisfactory denial," recalling its persistence for several days to deny Khashoggi's killing in its consulate in Istanbul.

He expected that Saudi Arabia will not deviate from the pattern of delaying tactics until it finds a way out of this issue, but he indicated that it may not find this way out in the event that US President Donald Trump does not win the presidential elections, a possibility that raises the panic of the tyrants in the world, including Mohammed bin Salman According to Al Barari.

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As for the US legal advisor Bruce Fine, he said that directing the summons so quickly reflects the court’s concern that the defendants could destroy evidence and intimidate witnesses, "including two in the United States who might try to escape."

He said that he had no doubt that the Saudi crown prince would contact Trump and his Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, and ask them to work to stop this lawsuit, under the pretext that it would affect US foreign policy, "but this does not mean that the court is obliged to accept these words."

As for the Saudi human rights activist Abdulaziz Al-Moayad, he believed that the response of the American judiciary to review the case and summon the Crown Prince, confirms that the judiciary has seen evidence confirming the seriousness of the case and that Jabri's life is in danger.

He said that the lawsuit papers reveal that the assassination squad was sent to al-Jabri just a week after Khashoggi's killing.
He added that Saudi activists in Canada receive warnings that their lives are in danger, and that there are assassination attempts against them.