Democratic congressman urges Biden to sanction Mohammed bin Salman and calls for US and UK to halt arms sales to Saudi Arabia
Exclusive: Ro Khanna tells The Independent’s Andrew Buncombe that deadly conflict in Yemen must be stopped
A Democratic congressman has urged Joe Biden to sanction Saudi Arabia’s powerful crown prince, and called for the US and UK to halt arms sales to Riyadh which is using them for a devastating war in Yemen.
Last December, the US Congress controversially voted to permit the Biden administration to license the sale of some arms to Saudi Arabia, after a number of legislators called for a complete ban.
Earlier in 2021, Mr Biden also controversially announced his government would not personally sanction Saudi’s crown prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS), despite American intelligence concluding he had overseen the 2018 killing of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said “the relationship with Saudi Arabia is bigger than any one individual”.
Yet, some in his party feel the president made a critical error, and believe it is vital he acts to stop the military operation against Yemen that has killed up to 350,000 and left 20 million people dependent on food aid, in what experts say is the world’s largest humanitarian disaster.
Congressman Ro Khanna told The Independent Mr Biden must sanction the 36-year-old crown prince, who has stridently rejected claims he ordered Mr Khashoggi’s killing inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, saying it was the work of “rogue” agents.
“There is a direct line between him and [the murder of] Khashoggi,” said Mr Khanna.
“Our own government’s reports have shown he is directly responsible for the Khashoggi murder. Khashoggi was writing about the Yemen war, and MBS has been the most guilty of the persecution of that war.”
Mr Khanna said it was essential firms such as Raytheon Company be blocked from selling arms to Saudi Arabia. He said the military operation in Yemen, which began in 2015 and has involved close to 10 nations, including the UAE, Bahrain and Kuwait, had entered a deadly stalemate.
He said the Houthi rebels being targeted by the Saudi operation were now launching rocket attacks on places such as the UAE.
“Saudi has lost the war in Yemen, which has caused huge casualties. It needs to understand that and they need to work towards a peaceful settlement,” he said.
Mr Khanna spoke during a congressional delegation visit to Israel. The visit, led by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, will also take in Germany and the United Kingdom.
Asked if he would be calling for British authorities to halt arms to Saudi Arabia, he said: “I will be making that case very strongly. I shared that, of course, in Israel. Concerns were raised about the Houthis. I said we cannot forget about the Saudis, the perpetrators of the war, the initial perpetrators.”
He added: “I will certainly be raising in the UK, the issue of bringing this war to a close and stopping arms sales to Saudi, stopping supplying the Saudi air force with spare parts, so that we can bring the war to a close.”
Mr Khanna, who was first elected in 2016, represents a solidly liberal area – California's 17th district – and is one of the more progressive members of his party. In 2020, he was vice-chair of Bernie Sanders’ presidential campaign.
Yet, his remarks point to the strong concern on Capitol Hill about continuing to arm the Saudi monarchy.
In 2019, both the House and the Senate voted on a series of measures to ban arms sales, only to see them vetoed by Donald Trump, whose administration said to sign such a bill into law “would send a message that the United States is abandoning its partners and allies”.
Mr Biden vowed to take a much tougher stance than his predecessor and was critical of Saudi Arabia when he campaigned for president, terming it a pariah state. Yet, he appears to have concluded that MBS is certain to take control of Saudi Arabia when 86-year-old King Salman passes, and that the relationship is too critical to sanction the county’s next leader.
In December, the White House approved the sale of $650m of missiles and missile launchers to Saudi Arabia, after the Democratic-controlled Senate gave a green light to what the administration claimed were “defensive” munitions.
Campaigners say the support of countries such as the UK and US has been critical to Saudi Arabia’s conduct of the war. It is not simply the political support: the two countries sell missiles and weaponry, and have long supported the Saudi Air Force.
Samuel Perlo-Freeman, research coordinator at Campaign Against Arms Trade in London, said thousands of civilians had been killed by air strikes, and as many as 350,000 people had died as a result of the booming and the impact on infrastructure. Schools and water treatment parts were often destroyed.
The CAAT has revealed that while the UK government’s figures suggest $9.1bn (£6.7bn) in arms sales from British companies since 2015, the real figure is likely as much as $27bn (£20bn).
He said BAE systems, Britain’s largest arms and aerospace firm, maintained more than 6,000 staff in Saudi Arabia to help operate its air force, as part of a deal agreed by the British government.
“The UK and US are also supporting the Saudi Air force without which it would be utterly impossible for them to keep on flying and keep on the bombing campaign,” he said.
Neither Saudi Arabia’s foreign ministry or the embassy in Washington DC responded to questions from The Independent. The White House also did not respond.
Mr Perlo-Freeman said he welcomed Mr Khanna’s involvement in trying to bring an end to the war.
“He has been one of the best the most outspoken in Congress in favour of stopping arms sales to Saudi Arabia. In fact, there has been a lot of efforts in Congress to stop supplies,” he said.
“Unfortunately, Trump vetoed it. Now it’s a Democratic president, the Democrats have gone a bit quieter on this, with some notable exceptions.”
He added: “So, some more pressure on the UK Government from members of US Congress is extremely welcome.”
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