Why immunity for MBS should be off the table MENASource by Michael Eisner and Jack Steele
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman during a meeting on World Economy at the G20 Osaka Summit in Osaka, Japan on June 28, 2019.Photo by Eliot Blondet/ABACAPRESS.COM
In a recent MENASource blog, the author raises the question of whether the State Department could grant head of state immunity for Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) in a federal lawsuit in exchange for lifting the blockade against Qatar. The civil lawsuit accuses the Crown Prince of ordering a team of his personal mercenaries, dubbed the “Tiger Squad,” to Canada in 2018 to kill Dr. Saad al-Jabri, a notable former Saudi cabinet minister and major general. Making such an exchange would not be in the interest of the American people, American laws, or American values. It would break with legal precedent regarding head of s