Sir John Jenkins says he can appreciate why kingdom executed al-Qaida supporters, after Riyadh’s announcement it killed 47 people for terrorism

Some of Saudi Arabia’s recent executions of al-Qaida supporters were understandable, Britain’s former ambassador to the country has said, as the UK government faces fresh questions about the intimacy of its links with the Saudi regime.

Speaking to the BBC, Sir John Jenkins said: “Do I think the sentences are justified? Certainly the people accused of membership of AQ [al-Qaida], particularly given what has happened over the past 18 months with these attacks by Islamic State inside the kingdom, I can understand why the Saudis reacted in the way they did.”

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He added that Saudi Arabia would argue that its executions were different from killings by Islamic State (Isis), since Saudi Arabia is “a legitimately constituted state operating in a state system”. Iran executed far more people than Saudi Arabia, he said.

Riyadh announced on Saturday it had killed 47 people for terrorism, including prominent Shia religious leader Nimr al-Nimr, prompting outrage among Shia communities across the Middle East and in south Asia, and endangering plans for multi-nation peace talks on Syria.

The leadership of the Labour party, under Jeremy Corbyn, has been increasingly critical of Britain’s links with Saudi Arabia. At the weekend it expressed anger that British foreign office minister Tobias Ellwood had described the executions as “disappointing”. The British Foreign Office later issued a tougher message calling for restraint on all sides.



The shadow human rights minister, Andy Slaughter, condemned the relationship and wrote to the justice secretary, Michael Gove, asking for him to confirm that discussions of judicial cooperation were continuing with the Saudis and calling for them to “cease immediately”.

“It is not right that the UK should be actively cooperating with a justice system that shows such flagrant disregard for the most basic human rights and the rule of law,” Slaughter argued.

He said the cancellation last year of a bid to provide Saudi Arabia with prisons expertise was not enough, and called for the publication of a “memorandum of understanding” signed by the justice heads of both states in September 2014.

“Cancelling the prison contract last year, and disbanding the Ministry of Justice unit that negotiated it, has had no effect on discussions on wider judicial cooperation which are continuing through the British embassy in Riyadh,” he said. “These should cease immediately and the government should publish the memorandum and disclose the full nature of British support and advice on justice issues to the Saudi regime.”

Jenkins said of the executions that the Saudis would argue that most of those killed had taken up arms against the state, had called for the secession of the eastern province, or had disclaimed loyalty to the Saudi state. “In Saudi terms disavowing the Saudi state is almost as serious as taking up arms,” Jenkins said.

Jenkins, who was the UK ambassador to Riyadh until the end of 2015, added that some of the punishments meted out by the Saudis were disproportionate. He said the purpose of the mass executions was to send a signal to Iran and to the US, as well as internally. “Essentially, the message is, ‘We, the Saudis, are not going to be pushed around by anybody. We reject Iranian interference in our affairs and we will stand up against anyone who we think is an Iranian agent of influence inside our country and who calls for the dissolution of the kingdom.’”

Saudi public opinion is expressed through social media, Jenkins said, and the rulers had been severely criticised by its own citizens for not doing enough to push back against Shia and Iranian influence. The Saudi kingdom was also facing a rival in the form of Isis, since Isis was presenting itself as the only force capable of standing up to Shia expansionism, he said.

A Ministry of Justice spokesperson said: “No work has been undertaken by the Ministry of Justice as a result of the memorandum of understanding.”



