The Trump administration is considering granting Saudi Crown Prince, Mohammed bin Salman, legal immunity from a federal lawsuit alleging that he orchestrated a conspiracy to kill a former high-level Saudi official, reports NDTV.
The State Department's legal office is taking into account the request, and will present its findings to Secretary of State Michael Pompeo, who would make a recommendation to the Department of Justice, a person familiar with the matter told NDTV. The case against Prince Mohammed was filed in federal court in Washington in August.
The current case accuses Prince Mohammed of deploying operatives in the U.S. to track down Saad Aljabri, a former high-level official who has worked with U.S. intelligence agencies, and then dispatching a team to assassinate him.
According to the report, a State Department recommendation could also lead to the dismissal of the Prince as a defendant in other cases recently filed in the United States, including ones accusing him of ordering the death of dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018.
The lawsuit filed by Saad Aljabri is the latest effort by the former intelligence official to try and bring about international and public pressure on the crown prince, following years of silence in exile abroad.
Aljabri's lawsuit claims that the crown prince has planted operatives in the U.S. to track him down and murder him. The lawsuit says a team of Saudi hit men flew to Canada to assassinate him, but were stopped by border officials.
Aljabri said in the lawsuit that he became privy to sensitive information about Prince Mohammed's "covert political scheming within the Royal Court" as well as his business dealings, and his role in creating a team of operatives to kill Khashoggi. Saudi officials have accused Aljabri of corruption, claims his family has dismissed as politically motivated.
Attempts by Saudi Arabia to forcibly return certain citizens who reside abroad began attracting global attention after the killing of Saudi critic Jamal Khashoggi, who was allegedly murdered by Saudi agents working for Prince Mohammed.