Six U.S. senators introduced a resolution Wednesday that holds Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia Mohammed bin Salman accountable for contributing for a variety of actions including the unjustified killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
Sens. Chris Coons (D-DE), Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Marco Rubio (R-FA.), Ed Markey (D-MA), and Todd Young (R-IN) wrote the resolution.
“I believe it’s vitally important to U.S. national security interests to make a definitive statement about the brutal murder of an American resident – Mr. Khashoggi – who has three American citizen children,” Graham said. “This resolution – without equivocation – definitively states that the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia was complicit in the murder of Mr. Khashoggi and has been a wrecking ball to the region jeopardizing our national security interests on multiple fronts. It will be up to Saudi Arabia as to how to deal with this matter.”
The resolution also holds bin Salman responsible for the jailing of political dissidents within Saudi Arabia, the use of force to intimidate rivals, the humanitarian crisis in Yemen, and the blockade of Qatar.
The Saudi government is urged to immediately release women’s rights activists, Saudi blogger Raif Badawi, and other detained political prisoners.