The Washington Post published the story of an American teenager who managed to escape from the kingdom with his father, asking US President Joe Biden to pressure Saudi leaders on human rights issues in the middle of this month. A demonstration way
David Ignatius, an American writer, in an article titled “A Daring Journey to Safety” published by an American newspaper, talked about the saga of an American teenager across the barren desert to escape to the United States with his Saudi father, and from President The president requested. Biden should talk about this story with Mohammed bin Salman, the crown prince of Saudi Arabia.
Rakan al-Dossari, 14, says his problems began after he joined his father, Nader, a Saudi businessman, and sued the kingdom in 2020 to assert his genetic claims in a dispute over a 1995 refinery contract in St. Lucia. .
The author notes that this incident is nothing more than a boring legal matter, except that one of the defendants in the business case was Mohammed bin Salman.
The story began in June 2020, when al-Dossari filed a lawsuit in Pennsylvania against former Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Nayef and other parties on behalf of his son Rakan, a US citizen.
He claimed they had not honored an old contract for a refinery project on the Caribbean island of St. Lucia. But the case created a dilemma: how to send a summons to a prince whose whereabouts are no longer known?
The complaint was later amended to include Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who, according to the suit, placed Mohammed bin Nayef under house arrest and seized his assets, preventing him from fulfilling his contractual obligations.
When al-Dusari said a subpoena could not be served against Mohammed bin Nayef, the court ordered Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s lawyer to help find him.
A spokesman for the Saudi embassy in Washington declined to comment for this column.
On May 20, 2021, Rakan and his father planned to travel from Riyadh to Washington, leaving the rest of their family behind after the kingdom lifted its coronavirus-related travel ban.
The father and son were carrying their boarding passes to Dulles International Airport outside Washington, D.C., but were stopped at passport control. After an hour’s delay, they were told they could not board the plane, according to Ignatius.
“We were told … there was a ban on leaving the country … I later learned that travel restrictions were imposed by the royal court,” Nader al-Dossari said in a lawsuit last year.
Fearing this incident, Rakan sent a video request to the US Embassy in Riyadh on June 9. In the text of the video, he said: “Dear President Biden, my family and I are now hostages at the behest of Mohammed bin Salman, the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia… I have done nothing as a law-abiding citizen. It is wrong, and the only thing on it is I’m focused on getting good grades in school… I think Mohammed bin Salman is punishing me and my family for demanding my rights in US federal court.
Referring to the Biden administration’s pledge to release all American hostages, Rakan pleaded with Biden: “Please free me and my family… Please protect us from MBS… Please bring us home. ”
After rejecting American aid, father and son made plans to escape the kingdom.
Their first plan was to ride two Sea-Doo jet skis in the Persian Gulf, which separates Saudi Arabia from the tiny island kingdom of Bahrain, but al-Dossari and his son were worried they would be attacked by sharks or arrested by the military. The Saudi coast guard was on the way, so they abandoned the plan.”
Ignatius added: “The second escape plan of the al-Dosari family was more daring. Nader al-Dosari contacted a group of smugglers who took him and Rakan to the launch area in southern Saudi Arabia and organized a fake hunting trip on four wheels. Drive vehicles.”
And he added: “They bought sheep and other believers to eat during the trip while Nader al-Dosari left his mobile phone in Riyadh. The adventure cost nearly $30,000, but the two felt they had no other choice.” “
It took several days to travel through the desolate sand dunes of the Empty Quarter. According to Ignatius, Saudi Arabian police stopped the fugitives during the trip and warned them not to shoot any deer or other protected animals.
In late June, they went to a neighboring country in the Persian Gulf, from where they planned to travel to a regional center and then to the United States – Rakan using his American passport and Nader using another Gulf passport that had previously obtained
But the passport officer found that the tests had been done before BCR traveled in Saudi Arabia and stopped them for further questioning.
This writer adds: “Nader al-Dosri told me: I thought this was the end of the matter, but in the end the authorities acquitted the father and son. When the two landed at the crossing, they thought they were free again. But this time, the American passport officer noticed that the rare visa to the United States had conflicting translations from the Arabic.
But the authorities still allowed to pass. They arrived in Dallas in late June, Ignatius said, the first two Saudis to escape a travel ban imposed by Mohammed bin Salman.
Ignatius noted that the story of the al-Dussari family is “just another example of the dangers facing Saudi citizens and insulting the kingdom’s leader.”
According to him, the story “explains in simple terms why President Biden wants more accountability when he meets with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman this month.”
Source: Lebanon Debate
