ZCZC
BFF-08
SAUDI-US-DIPLOMACY
Saudi Arabia names first woman envoy to Washington at critical time
RIYADH, Feb 24, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – Saudi Arabia on Saturday named a princess
as its first woman ambassador to the United States, a key appointment as the
fallout over journalist Jamal Khashoggi’s murder tests relations between the
allies.
Princess Rima bint Bandar replaced Prince Khalid bin Salman, the younger
brother of the powerful crown prince who was appointed vice defence minister
in a flurry of late-night royal decrees announced on state media.
The reshuffle comes as Saudi Arabia seeks to quell an international outcry
over Khashoggi’s murder last October in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul,
which strained relations with its key ally Washington.
After initially denying they knew anything of Khashoggi’s disappearance,
the kingdom finally acknowledged that Saudi agents killed him inside the
consulate, but described it as a rogue operation.
Princess Rima faces hostile US lawmakers who have threatened tough action
against Saudi Arabia over the brutal killing amid claims that Crown Prince
Mohammed bin Salman — the kingdom’s de-facto ruler — was personally
responsible.
The Saudi government has denied he had anything to do with the murder of
Khashoggi, a royal insider-turned-critic who was a columnist with the
Washington Post.
“The appointment of a new envoy signifies an attempt by Riyadh to try and
re-set relations with Washington and draw a line under the Khashoggi affair,
however unlikely that may be in practice, at least with Congress,” Kristian
Ulrichsen, a fellow at Rice University’s Baker Institute in the United
States, told AFP.
– ‘First female ambassador’ –
Princess Rima, the daughter of a former long-time ambassador to the US,
has been a leading advocate of female empowerment in the kingdom, which has
faced intense criticism over the recent jailing of women activists — and
subsequent claims of sexual abuse and torture of some of them in detention.
The princess previously worked at the kingdom’s General Sports Authority,
where she led a campaign to increase women’s participation in sports.
“Princess Rima becomes the first female ambassador in Saudi history and
the first female with a rank of minister — a strong signal to the
integration of women into the government and workforce,” Ali Shihabi, founder
of the pro-Saudi think-tank Arabia Foundation, said on Twitter.
Prince Khalid, a son of the king who served as ambassador since 2017, had
been expected to leave Washington for some time — particularly after the
global outcry over Khashoggi tarnished the kingdom’s reputation.
His new appointment as deputy defence minister comes as a military
coalition led by Saudi Arabia remains bogged down in a four-year conflict in
neighbouring Yemen.
A separate royal decree on Saturday ordered a one-month salary bonus for
frontline military officials on the kingdom’s southern border.
– ‘Difficult portfolio’ –
Prince Khalid, a former Saudi air force pilot, takes his post a year after
the crown prince — who also serves as the defence minister — announced a
military reform plan and a dramatic overhaul of top defence commanders.
“As the Yemen war drags on and the military reform programme continues to
move painstakingly slow, Prince Khalid is gaining a difficult portfolio but
one that is critical to his father, brother and the kingdom,” Becca Wasser, a
policy analyst at the US-based RAND Corporation, told AFP.
“Prince Mohammed has struggled to delegate authority within this file
which has rendered some efforts — chiefly military reform — stagnant, and
Prince Khalid’s appointment may be an attempt to reinvigorate these
initiatives.”
Shihabi said Prince Khalid will virtually have the same authority as the
defence minister, shouldering some of the burden on the crown prince.
Khashoggi’s killing has refocused attention on the Saudi-led coalition’s
bombing campaign in Yemen, which is gripped by what the UN calls the world’s
worst humanitarian crisis.
A key challenge for Princess Rima will be to win over US lawmakers, who
earlier this month voted overwhelmingly to end American involvement in the
Saudi war effort in Yemen, dealing a rebuke to President Donald Trump who has
publicly thrown his support behind the crown prince.
US lawmakers this month also said they were probing whether Trump was
rushing to sell sensitive nuclear technology to Saudi Arabia, voicing fears
that it could be misused to make an atomic bomb.
BSS/AFP/MSY/0903 hrs