An international case of “he said, he said” is playing out in court, and the stakes are high. 

Saad Aljabri, a former top Saudi intelligence official, says in legal filings that he was marked for murder by Mohammed bin Salman, Saudi Arabia’s crown prince. In response, the crown prince alleges that Aljabri misspent or stole billions of dollars of Saudi money. Meanwhile, the head of the U.S. intelligence community is concerned that the legal battles will reveal American state secrets as the court cases wear on. 

There are three key lawsuits in this “prince v. spy” fight, one in Canada and two in the United States. Below is a short guide to these lawsuits and some of their key documents. In addition, a United Nations human rights group has recently weighed in on the detention of Aljabri’s daughter, son and son-in-law by the Saudi government.

Aljabri’s lawsuit against MBS

Aljabri first filed his lawsuit in August 2020 in U.S. District Court in Washington, DC. He updated the suit in February with this amended complaint.

The complaint alleges that Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman sent a hit team to target Aljabri in Canada, and that the men involved — who are also listed as defendants — were intercepted and deported by authorities at Ottawa’s international airport. 

“Like the team that murdered Khashoggi, those sent to kill Dr. Saad … were also members of Defendant bin Salman’s personal mercenary group, the Tiger Squad,” Aljabri’s complaint reads. “Carrying two bags of forensic tools, and complete with forensic personnel experienced with the clean-up of crime scenes … the Tiger Squad Defendants attempted to enter Canada covertly, traveling on tourist visas and seeking to avert the detection of Canadian border security by entering through separate kiosks.”

According to the suit, bin Salman has prevented Aljabri’s