The kingdom says how dare you
Saudi Arabia is issuing threats.
Saudi Arabia has said it will retaliate against any sanctions imposed over the disappearance of Jamal Khashoggi, as the Riyadh stock market had its biggest fall in years.
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The French, German and UK foreign secretaries ratcheted up the pressure by releasing a joint statement calling on the Saudi government to give a complete and detailed account of Khashoggi’s disappearance, adding that those found to be responsible must be held to account.
Riyadh vowed to hit back against any action. “The kingdom affirms its total rejection of any threats and attempts to undermine it, whether through economic sanctions, political pressure or repeating false accusations,” it said.
The kingdom affirms its right to murder anyone it wants to.
Saudi Arabia’s vast oil reserves, said to be about 260bn barrels, give it enormous clout in the global economy. It has significant power to drive up prices, which would hurt every major developed economy.
It has that, and that’s all it has. If it weren’t for the oil it would be a pariah state.
In the firmest joint language to appear from Europe since the crisis broke, the European foreign ministers said “light must be shed on Khashoggi’s disappearance”.
They said they shared the “grave concerns” expressed by the UN secretary general, António Guterres, and “are treating this incident with the utmost seriousness. There needs to be a credible investigation to establish the truth about what happened, and – if relevant – to identify those bearing responsibility for the disappearance of Jamal Khashoggi and ensure that they are held to account.”
The statement added: “We encourage joint Saudi-Turkish efforts in that regard, and expect the Saudi government to provide a complete and detailed response. We have conveyed this message directly to the Saudi authorities.”
It would be nice if the US were part of that statement, but of course it’s not. Donnie Two-scoops likes the Saudi dictators; they’re his kind of guys.
What’s wrong with the current generation of spooks, why can’t they murder people discretely? The Russian nerve gas assassins left a trail a mile wide. All they needed was a bowl of borscht left behind at the scene of the crime. Now we have Khashoggi’s ‘disappearance’.
It’s about time that the agreement between the House of Saud and the US is shredded.
” It has significant power to drive up prices, which would hurt every major developed economy.”
Economically, in the short term . . . maybe . . . but jacking up the price of oil might be a good way to get people to look at alternatives, as there is this other thing that might be a lot more harmful to economies than expensive oil
#1
The are demonstrating that they don’t NEED to ‘murder discretely.’ There’s a direct, incremental creep of defiance here. Defy the law, or international standards, with impunity? Take another step forward and try again.
# 3
Yes, that’s a plausible explanation, but probably counterproductive in the long run. Any state that pursues such policies is risking pariah status.
MBS is getting the same benefit of the doubt from Trump as Putin gets. Because Trump is a living lie detector, don’tcha know.
Stong, firm denial, unknown ‘rogue’ elements. He really does love him a dictator, does Trump.
Oops! Linky. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/oct/15/turkey-jamal-khashoggi-granted-permission-search-saudi-arabia-consulate-istanbul