Thai-Saudi Relations Hang On Murder Case

Saudi Arabia is asking Thailand to solve the long-running case of a Saudi businessman murdered in Bangkok 25 years ago, saying diplomatic ties cannot resume until it is resolved, local media reported Wednesday.



The Saudi charge d'affaires -- recently returned from a year's absence in connection to the affair -- told the Bangkok Post he believed Thailand wished to restore full bilateral relations, but that the improvement was conditional on the outcome of legal proceedings.



"Whether we can restore good ties between us relies solely on this case," said Abdalelah Mohammed A. Alsheaiby, referring to the killing in February 1990 of Mohammad al-Ruwaili, a Saudi businessman who had close links to the Saudi royal family.



"I believe the Thai government has good intentions to normalize relations. But the restoration will have to be done without the rights of our citizens being infringed upon."



On Mar. 31, 2014, a Bangkok court dismissed a case against five Thai policemen accused of having kidnapped and murdered al-Ruwaili and then burning his body.



The judge had considered the evidence "too weak" and did not consider credible the statement of another policeman who reportedly accused his colleagues of murder.



Three months after the judgment the then-Saudi king Abdullah recalled Alsheaiby to Riyadh to demonstrate his discontent, but the envoy returned to Bangkok this August in the hope that a soon-to-be-issued appeal outcome will be more positive for the Saudi side.



"My mission is to communicate and see the final resolution of this court case. The ball is in the Thai court now and Saudi Arabia is ready to celebrate," Alsheaiby told the Post.



The Saudi envoy mentioned some "positive signs" from Thai authorities, such as the creation of an inter-agency body chaired by a deputy permanent secretary from the Thai foreign ministry to "clear issues" hindering Saudi-Thai relations.



Since the Saudi businessman's disappearance and presumed murder -- which followed the murder of four Saudi diplomats in Jan. 1989 and Feb. 1990 -- relationships between Riyadh and Bangkok had come to an almost standstill.



In the aftermath, Riyadh has issued a ban prohibiting its citizens from traveling to Thailand, and the number of Thais working in Saudi Arabia has dropped from 500,000 before 1989 to barely 100 today.



The murder of al-Ruwaili is linked to a saga that began in 1989 with the theft by a Thai janitor of $2 million worth of jewelry from the palace of a Saudi Arabian prince where he was employed.



The worker was arrested in Thailand soon after the theft, and police returned the jewelry to the Saudi authorities. But some of the pieces -- including a priceless blue diamond -- turned out to be fake, leading to suspicions that senior police and members of Thailand's elite had kept the jewelry and ordered a cover-up.



Thai reporters have long speculated that some of the jewels -- especially the blue diamond -- may have ended up in the possession of people at the top of the country's social ladder. - Krung Thep