Saudis avoid release direct statement against JASTA
Monitoring Desk: Saudis have avoided release of direct statement against JASTA and pitched a comment in Middle Eastern media against JASTA through “an official source”.
Saudi foreign ministry has released its comment on late Thursday about JASTA and said that the enactment of the US legislation allowing 9/11 victims to sue the kingdom would weaken sovereign immunity and leave a negative impact on all nations.
Meanwhile Saudi Lobbyists do not leave hope and believe that they will manage changes in JASTA just right after US Presidential elections, reports Russia Media.
Saudi Arabian government avoided to release direct statement over JASTA and used “sources” in a statement pitched in Middle Eastern media.
According to Al-Arabia television, a ministerial source said the Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act (JASTA) would contribute to the “erosion” of the principle of sovereign immunity, which has governed international relations for hundreds of years, read a statement on the state-run news agency.
Television says that the source further added that this would have a negative impact on all nations, including the United States. The source explained that many nations oppose JASTA as well as many American national security experts, who are aware of the “dangers” JASTA represents.
These “dangers” were the reason why President Barack Obama, the US Secretary of Defense, The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the Director of the CIA have expressed their opposition to JASTA as it has been drafted.
The official source concluded by expressing “hope that wisdom will prevail and that Congress will take the necessary steps to correct this legislation in order to avoid the serious unintended consequences that may ensue.
The Saudi government financed an extensive lobbying campaign against the “Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act”, or JASTA, in the run-up to the vote, and warned it would undermine the principle of sovereign immunity.
But Saudi officials who had lobbied against the bill stopped short of threatening any retaliation if the law was passed.
