Saudi prince's new role in government serves to "strengthen immunity", say critics

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s new title of prime minister, announced this week, could prove more significant abroad than inside the kingdom where he already wields enormous power.

The appointment by royal decree comes as the administration of US President Joe Biden is debating whether Prince Mohammed qualifies for immunity from lawsuits filed in American courts, The Times of Israel reports.

Before Prince Mohammed’s title bump was announced, a judge had given US lawyers a deadline of October 3 to file a “statement of interest” on the immunity question. But on Friday, citing Prince Mohammed’s new position, the administration requested an additional 45 days to make up its mind, according to a court filing seen by AFP.

The 37-year-old de facto ruler of the world’s biggest crude exporter has been targeted in multiple lawsuits in the US in recent years, notably over the 2018 killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi in the kingdom’s Istanbul consulate, which temporarily turned him into a pariah in the West.

His lawyers have argued that he “sits at the apex of Saudi Arabia’s government” and thus qualifies for immunity.

Human rights activists and government critics immediately speculated this week that making Prince Mohammed prime minister was a bald-faced attempt to strengthen the immunity claim and skirt legal exposure.

Sarah Leah Whitson, executive director of the NGO Khashoggi founded, Democracy for the Arab World Now (DAWN), told AFP it was a “last-ditch effort to conjure up a new title for him” — in other words, “a title-washing ploy.”

Saudi officials did not respond to requests for comment on the move.