Following the beginning of the Syrian civil war in 2011, he claimed that the regime of President Bashar al-Assad was responsible for creating the radical jihadist al-Nusra Front. However, he remains politically active, despite confirming Taymour as his political heir in March 2017. For example, he blamed Saudi Arabia for the resignation of Lebanese Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri in November 2017.

In the report, Agnes Callamard, the UN special rapporteur on extrajudicial killings deduced that Khashoggi had been the victim of a “premeditated extrajudicial execution, for which the State of Saudi Arabia is responsible.” As a non-binding report, what impact does this allegation have?

With the constant fear of Ankara releasing the tapes and sabotaging Riyadh’s attempts to deny or conceal their involvement, Saudi Arabia has been caught in a very public tight spot. Forced to repeatedly offer feasible explanations that would then be torn apart by subsequent Turkish leaks, Saudi Arabia’s credibility and reputation have been damaged. For Saudi Arabia, a country currently obsessed with its international image, this must have surely been a uniquely painful experience at the hands of its rival.

To save face, the U.S may enforce the Global Magnitsky act, which would impose visa bans and asset freezes on any person believed to have committed human rights abuses. This response would have, at most, a minor impact on Saudi Arabia’s economy.

Al-Sahwa’s origins date back to the 1950s and 1960s, when thousands of members of the Muslim Brotherhood fled violent repression across the region, especially Egypt, and came to the conservative kingdom.

With the constant fear of Ankara releasing the tapes and sabotaging Riyadh’s attempts to deny or conceal their involvement, Saudi Arabia has been caught in a very public tight spot. Forced to repeatedly offer feasible explanations that would then be torn apart by subsequent Turkish leaks, Saudi Arabia’s credibility and reputation have been damaged. For Saudi Arabia, a country currently obsessed with its international image, this must have surely been a uniquely painful experience at the hands of its rival.

President Trump has emboldened Saudi Arabia by relying on his personal diplomacy and focusing on jobs rather than broader American interests or ideals. If the Saudis are able to keep the United States out of the Khashoggi affair, then Trump has opened the door to further limits on U.S. influence in the Middle East.

Saudi Arabia has proved itself to be an ardent opponent of human rights, despite MBS’ PR campaigns proclaiming reform. The kingdom has, some argue, also managed to damage human rights in totally novel fields. In a highly successful publicity stunt, Riyadh granted citizenship to a robot, Sophia. Granting citizenship – and thereby rights – to a machine calls into question the value that the Saudi regime places on human rights at all.

A recent UN report found that all sides in the conflict may have committed war crimes, including the Houthis. The group has been accused of indiscriminate fire in urban areas and of recruiting child soldiers who are as young as eight years old.

Canada’s relationship with Saudi Arabia is actually advantageous on several fronts. There’s no doubt navigating the relationship was tricky at times, but the alternative will be seriously detrimental to Canada if Saudi Arabia intensifies its aggressive measures against us.