US sanctions target Saudi government officials

The US Treasury Department today placed former Saudi royal court adviser Saud al-Qahtani and 16 other Saudi officials on its sanctions list over the killing of dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

The US decision is in line with Riyadh's latest official version of the motivation and circumstances of Khashoggi's killing on 2 October in the Saudi consulate general in Istanbul, which insulates the senior leadership from blame. The US administration has been keen to ensure the fallout from the killing does not affect relations with Riyadh at a time when Washington has urged Saudi Arabia to increase oil production to make up for the barrels displaced from the market as a result of US sanctions.

The Treasury singled out al-Qahtani as a "senior official of the government of Saudi Arabia who was part of the planning and execution of the operation that led to the killing of Mr. Khashoggi." Al-Qahtani had served as a media adviser to crown prince Mohammad bin Salman until last month, when he was dismissed in the wake of Khashoggi's killing.

The US is also adding Saudi consul general in Istanbul, Mohammed al-Otaiba, to the sanctions list under the Global Magnitsky Act, a US law used to penalize foreign government officials over human rights violations.

"The Saudi officials we are sanctioning were involved in the abhorrent killing of Jamal Khashoggi," treasury secretary Steven Mnuchin said. "These individuals who targeted and brutally killed a journalist who resided and worked in the US must face consequences for their actions."

Riyadh initially denied any involvement, only to change the story to suggest that some government officials plotted to lure Khashoggi to the consulate and accidentally killed him there — prompting President Donald Trump to say that "the cover-up was one of the worst in the history of cover-ups."

The US administration announced the sanctions on the same day the Saudi prosecutor general's office concluded its investigation. The Saudi prosecutors said that deputy intelligence chief Ahmed al-Assiri sent a 15-person team to Istanbul to persuade Khashoggi to return to Saudi Arabia or to forcibly bring him home if he refused. The prosecutors allege that the unnamed leader of the rendition team made an unauthorized decision to kill Khashoggi and to cover up the crime.

"We consider Khashoggi murder a crime and a big mistake, but the Khashoggi case now is a legal case and we refuse any attempt to politicize it," Saudi foreign minister Adel al-Jubeir said today.

The Treasury has not placed al-Assiri on its sanctions list. But Mnuchin said the US "continues to diligently work to ascertain all of the facts and will hold accountable each of those we find responsible." The US said that the operation was coordinated and executed by al-Qahtani's subordinate Maher Mattreb.

US officials have pressured Riyadh to fully investigate the killing and to allow Khashoggi's children and family to leave Saudi Arabia. The US is also urging Saudi Arabia to bring an end to its military operations in Yemen, with defense secretary Jim Mattis requesting that Riyadh declare a cease-fire in Yemen by the end of November.

Both demands reflected concerns about congressional action against Riyadh. Senators from both parties have tried to block US military sales to Saudi Arabia out of concern that some of the weaponry is being used in what the UN describes as a humanitarian catastrophe in Yemen. Senator Rand Paul (R-Kentucky) today proposed a resolution to block US arms sales to Bahrain as an indirect rebuke to its ally Saudi Arabia's involvement in Yemen.

Trump has said he will oppose congressional attempts to block arms sales to Saudi Arabia and other Mideast Gulf Arab states. But Trump insists that Saudi Arabia sticks to its commitment to keep oil output high to blunt the price effects of lower Iranian output.

"Hopefully, Saudi Arabia and OPEC will not be cutting oil production. Oil prices should be much lower based on supply!" Trump said via Twitter on 12 November. Trump's comments came after Saudi Arabia's oil minister Khalid al-Falih said that a production cut of around 1mn b/d from October levels may be needed if current market conditions persist.