US Senator Lindsey Graham called Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) “unstable and unreliable” and said he and other senators were discussing sanctions against the longtime US ally in the wake of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi’s killing.
Graham, a Republican, said he and other like-minded colleagues do not yet have a plan of action, but he lambasted the leadership of Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler.
The prince “has been unstable and unreliable and I don’t see the situation getting fixed as long as he’s around,” Graham said.
Asked if he was calling for a new crown prince to be named, Graham said it was up to Saudi Arabia to determine its leadership.
“I am of the opinion that the current leadership, the MBS leadership, has been a disaster for the relationship and the region, and I will find it very difficult to do business as usual with somebody who’s been this unstable,” he said.
Khashoggi, who wrote for the Washington Post and was a critic of Prince Mohammed’s policies, was murdered during a visit to the Saudi Arabian consulate in Istanbul, Turkey, on Oct. 2.
The prince and Saudi Arabian officials initially said they had no knowledge of Khashoggi’s whereabouts, but as pressure mounted, the kingdom acknowledged he had been killed at the consulate.
The killing revived criticism of Saudi Arabia’s role in Yemen’s years long civil war, the consequences of which the UN declared the world’s biggest humanitarian disaster.
Prince Mohammed has strongly defended the Yemen campaign.
US President Donald Trump has been critical of the Saudis in the wake of Khashoggi’s death, but has said the events should not hinder arms sales to the kingdom.
On Tuesday, Trump said that he intended to nominate a retired US Army general as US ambassador to Riyadh.
Graham was skeptical of US National Security Adviser John Bolton’s comments on Monday that people who have heard a recording of Khashoggi’s murder do not believe it implicates Prince Mohammed.
“Pretty hard for me to believe that 15 people just on their own fly to Turkey and chop somebody up in a consulate and never tell anybody in Saudi Arabia about it. I’ll be shocked if that turns out to be true,” he said.
US Senate Committee on Foreign Relations Chairman Bob Corker, also a Republican, said separately that the Trump administration must give a high-level briefing to senators on Saudi Arabia — including the issues of Khashoggi and Yemen — or risk losing Saudi-related votes on the Senate floor before the Congress finishes for the year.
Of Khashoggi’s murder, “there’s no smoking gun, but I don’t think there’s any question he directed it, knew it, and we’ve got to figure out a way to cause them to pay a price,” Corker said, referring to Prince Mohammed.
Senator Chris van Hollen, a Democrat, said he expects to see significant sanctions against the Saudis “targeted to the highest levels of the Saudi government.”
Fellow Democrat, US Senator Chris Murphy said he would discuss the possibility of forcing a vote this year on ending US involvement in Yemen’s conflict under the War Powers Act.
Murphy also said that the Trump administration would have a hard time getting the votes needed for more arms sales to the kingdom.
Meanwhile, in the US House of Representatives, Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi ripped Republicans in a statement for moving to block a vote on ending the US involvement in the war.
“Real, immediate action must be taken by the Congress to end this horrific humanitarian crisis,” she said.
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