TEL AVIV — The Biden administration is under increasing pressure to assist a previous Saudi intelligence chief credited with conserving American lives who was at first apprehended by the Saudi federal government throughout the Trump administration. Two sources knowledgeable about the matter declare he was physically mistreated to the point he is not able to stroll unassisted.
Mohammed bin Nayef, 61, was Saudi Arabia’s interior minister and a close partner of American intelligence firms in the battle versus al Qaeda after 9/11. Having endured 4 assassination efforts by terrorists, he was apprehended in March 2020 by Crown Prince Mohamed bin Salman as the de facto Saudi leader, likewise called MBS, relocated to combine power and sideline competitors.
Former U.S. intelligence authorities who dealt with bin Nayef rage that the Trump administration did not appear to come to his help, and they state President Joe Biden ought to be doing more.
“The Trump White House did nothing — absolutely nothing — to help him,” stated Bruce Riedel, a previous CIA officer now with the Brookings Institution.
President Donald Trump and his son-in-law and consultant, Jared Kushner, promoted a close relationship with MBS. Biden, nevertheless, revealed a U.S. intelligence evaluation asserting that MBS purchased the 2018 murder of Saudi dissident and Washington Post reporter Jamal Khashoggi, a U.S. citizen who was eliminated by Saudis in Turkey.
It’s uncertain whether the Biden administration has actually stepped in behind the scenes, however the conditions of bin Nayef’s detention have actually enhanced just recently, and relative have actually been enabled to see him, the sources state.
Bin Nayef was apprehended without charge. A source knowledgeable about the matter informed NBC News there is proof bin Nayef was held just recently at a federal government substance beside the al-Yamamah Palace in Riyadh, the main seat of the Saudi royal court, simply a couple of hundred lawns from where MBS hosts foreign dignitaries.
Two individuals knowledgeable about his scenario, who asked for privacy to prevent effects for bin Nayef, state he has actually lost more than 50 pounds and can no longer stroll unaided. He suffered severe injuries to his feet from whippings, the 2 sources declare, including that discomfort medication for previous injuries was kept.
“[He] is not enabled outside and is restricted to his own location,” among the sources stated. “During the course of the day, he does not see anyone and has not been allowed access to his personal doctor or legal representatives.”
The declared mistreatment of bin Nayef was initially reported by the U.K.’s Sunday Times.
Bin Nayef was embellished by the CIA in 2017 for his assistance of U.S. counterterrorism efforts. Former intelligence authorities state he played an important function in preventing attacks on Americans. Many are annoyed about his treatment, and annoyed that the U.S. federal government has actually refrained from doing more to assist him.
“It’s been horrific, what’s happened to him,” Riedel stated. “This is a man who saved dozens of American lives.”
Marc Polymeropoulos, who led significant CIA operations in the Middle East, stated bin Nayef was especially valuable as the U.S. looked for to fend off trustworthy plots by al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula to remove an American airliner.
In October 2010, for instance, bin Nayef played a crucial function in the last-minute hindering of a plot by al Qaeda’s affiliate in Yemen to bomb FedEx and UPS freight airplanes flying from Yemen to Chicago. Officials at the time stated the Saudi intelligence chief called John Brennan, the White House counterterrorism consultant, and offered him tracking numbers for bundles that held advanced bombs camouflaged as print cartridges. The dynamites were obstructed in the UK and UAE and securely deactivated.
And in 2012, Saudi intelligence under bin Nayef assisted place a representative into Yemen with an objective of recovering the current style for a clothes bomb to be smuggled onto an airliner. The representative effectively smuggled out the bomb, which was taken apart and evaluated by FBI specialists, intelligence authorities stated at the time.
“I can attest from personal experience that his efforts … directly saved numerous American lives,” stated Polymeropoulos, author of a brand-new book, “Clarity in Crisis.”
In 2009, bin Nayef was almost eliminated by a suicide bomber who detonated an underclothing bomb after pretending to be a reformed terrorist who wished to personally give up to the intelligence chief.
Despite that record, there is no indicator the Trump administration put pressure on the Saudi federal government after bin Nayef was imprisoned.
A spokesperson for previous Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who as CIA director granted bin Nayef a medal in 2017, did not react to an ask for remark. Former CIA director Gina Haspel did not react to an ask for remark.
A spokesperson for Jared Kushner did not react to an ask for remark.
A spokesperson for the Saudi embassy acknowledged invoice of an NBC News query however did not use any remark.
People near the scenario think the Biden administration has actually silently pushed the Saudis on the concern, however administration authorities decreased to comment, stating they feared making things even worse for bin Nayef.
CIA Director William Burns understands bin Nayef personally, having actually met him numerous times while Burns was a diplomat.
President Biden has actually not raised the concern of bin Nayef openly. In its 2020 human rights report, the State Department remembered of his scenario, stating, “lawyers representing Prince Mohammed bin Nayef said they were increasingly concerned about his well-being, alleging that his whereabouts remained unknown five months after he was detained and stating that he had not been allowed visits by his personal doctor.”
King Salman, the 85-year-old ruler of Saudi Arabia, concerned power in January 2015 and designated his nephew bin Nayef as crown prince and beneficiary to the throne. But 2 years later on bin Nayef was deposed as crown prince and changed by MBS, the king’s 35-year-old kid.
Bin Nayef was removed of his workplaces however MBS at first appeared at discomforts to soften his cousin’s fall from grace. In an extensively advertised video, MBS can be seen kissing the older guy’s hand and stating: “We are always in need of your direction and guidance.”
Yet as MBS enhanced his grip on power he started to move strongly versus possible competitors within Saudi Arabia. In November 2017, Saudi security forces apprehended lots of princes and popular organization figures and imprisoned them inside the Ritz-Carlton hotel in Riyadh. Some were tortured throughout detention, according to existing and previous U.S. authorities.
The Saudi federal government stated the arrests became part of an anti-corruption drive purchased by MBS.
Bin Nayef was apprehended in March 2020 when guards from the royal court using masks and worn black come to his house, individuals knowledgeable about the matter informed the Wall Street Journal.
Saudi authorities stated the arrest was on suspicion of treason, however he has actually never ever been officially charged. Bin Nayef’s advocates reject he became part of any treason plot.
Last year, a bipartisan group of British parliamentarians asked for the Saudi federal government enable them to consult with bin Nayef to identify the nature of his detention and the state of his health. Saudi authorities did not react to their demands, they stated.
In a report, the parliamentarians concluded it was “highly likely” that bin Nayef and other senior detainees were being “arbitrarily detained.”
Biden came under criticism in March when his administration excused MBS from any individual sanctions regardless of an evaluation by U.S. intelligence firms that he purchased the killing of Khashoggi, the Washington Post reporter and Saudi dissident.
“We held accountable all the people in that organization — but not the crown prince, because we have never that I’m aware of, when we have an alliance with a country, gone to the acting head of state and punished that person and ostracized him,” Biden informed ABC News.
“He said in the final presidential debate that he would treat MBS as a pariah,” Riedel stated. “The only manifestation of that so far is he hasn’t called him.”
But Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin has actually talked to MBS by phone, and environment envoy John Kerry satisfied and was photographed with him at a conference in Dubai.
During the Obama administration, U.S. diplomats pushed Saudi Arabia on the function of the spiritual cops and effectively encouraged the federal government to release training for judges and district attorneys to raise the expert requirement of its judicial system, according to Joseph Westphal, who worked as U.S. ambassador to Riyadh from 2014 to January 2017.
“We had made significant progress,” he stated.
But the Trump administration deserted the legal training effort, stated Westphal, now at the Lauder Institute of Management and International Studies at the University of Pennsylvania.
“Once we left office all of that ended and Trump did not resume any of that. He didn’t name an ambassador for almost two years,” Westphal stated.
Westphal stated U.S. ambassadors published to the kingdom wield substantial impact due to the long-established ties in between the 2 nations, which the most efficient method of resolving human rights issues was normally in personal discussions with the king and other senior figures. Public rebukes and news release tended to provoke an unfavorable response and be disadvantageous, he stated.
The Biden administration has yet to choose an ambassador to Saudi Arabia.
