What a nest of vipers! Saudi officials tried to co-opt Chinese security agents for Beijing snatch...
The Khashoggi killing had roots in a cutthroat Saudi family feud
washingtonpost.com
Obaid was Turki’s emissary on an important business venture. Turki had agreed to invest at least $10 million in a development fund called the Silk Road Finance Corp., or SRFC, headed by an MIT-educated chief executive named Shan Li, according to the organization’s website. The Chinese eminence behind the Silk Road initiative was Chen Yuan, a very senior leader who had headed the China Development Bank from 1998 to 2013 and whose father was reportedly one of the founders of the Chinese Communist Party.
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On Aug. 21, Li invited Obaid to come to Beijing to look at an office for the Silk Road Finance Corp. that would be located in Yintai Center in the heart of downtown, a source said. It was a fashionable spot, with the new Park Hyatt hotel in the building. Li said that Obaid could meet Chen, the godfather of the Silk Road venture, on the trip.
On the afternoon of Aug 25, Obaid flew from Shanghai to Beijing on a private jet. When the plane landed, it taxied to a remote area of the airport. Parked nearby was a plane with the tail marking “HZ-ATR.” The “HZ” prefix designated it as a Saudi plane. What happened next was described by knowledgeable Saudi and Swiss sources who were briefed on the case.
As Obaid left his plane, he was stopped by more than 40 plainclothes Chinese security men. The leader of the group, speaking in Arabic, is said to have told Obaid: “We are the Ministry of State Security. Are you going to cooperate?” Obaid surrendered; his head and body were covered in a bag so tight that he couldn’t see or move unassisted; he was taken to an interrogation facility somewhere in Beijing and handcuffed to a chair.
A Chinese intelligence officer asserted that Obaid was a terrorist financier who was organizing a plot by Pakistani militants to disrupt the G-20 summit scheduled for the next month, a source briefed on the case said. “Where are you hiding the terrorists? Where are you hiding the Pakistani militiamen?” demanded the interrogator. Obaid protested that he had no idea what they were talking about; they had the wrong man. He was subjected to a lengthy and painful interrogation ordeal.
Fortunately, Ministry of State Security technicians were examining Obaid’s iPad and cellphone and checking the information against their own sources. Quickly, the Chinese concluded that an error had indeed been made: Saudi officials had given them false information about Obaid to arrest him as a terrorist and extradite him back to the kingdom.
According to a knowledgeable source, a senior Ministry of State Security officer told Obaid: “Look, there’s been a mistake. Someone in your country called us five minutes before you landed in Beijing and said you were a terrorist financing a hit on the G-20 summit.” The Chinese official explained: “You are stuck in a power play in your country between two powerful princes.”
Chinese intelligence officers, angry that they had been deceived, arranged for Obaid to quickly travel back to Shanghai and protected him for the rest of his stay in China.
Meanwhile, the Saudis, who had hoped to snatch Obaid in Beijing, were furious that he had slipped their grasp. They sent agents to search hotels in Beijing, looking for the Abdullah clan’s operative. In Shanghai, Obaid received a call from Gen. Yousuf bin Ali al-Idrissi, deputy head of Saudi intelligence, telling him to fly back to Beijing and get on the Saudi plane that had been sent to pick him up, according to a source briefed on the case. Obaid turned again for advice to his patron, Prince Turki, who called Idrissi. According to a knowledgeable source, Turki said: “If the king wants it, it will be done. On whose behalf are you speaking?” Idrissi gave an ambiguous answer about who had ordered Obaid’s forced departure from China. Obaid stayed in Shanghai under close guard of the Ministry of State Security for another week.
Because Obaid had a Swiss passport, he also received protection from the Swiss Consulate in Shanghai. A Jan. 11, 2017, letter to Obaid’s lawyer from Swiss Consul General Françoise Killias Zillweger confirms: “Referring to the assumption of responsibility for Mr. Tarek Obaid, I inform you that this Consulate Generale has provided benefits under the consular protection.”
Turki arrived in China on Aug. 30 and spoke at the IFF meeting on Sept. 1; he was also photographed with President Xi Jinping. MBS arrived for the G-20 summit that took place in Hangzhou Sept. 4 and 5. By then, Obaid was on Turki’s private Airbus flying to Switzerland. The Chinese checked to make sure that Obaid had arrived safely in Geneva. Once there, Obaid was immediately treated at a specialized clinic for injuries he had suffered in China, according to a Swiss source. |
