US says ‘won’t intervene’ in Saudi man’s deadly hit-and-run case as suspect flees America

The United States has announced that it is not planning to prosecute a Saudi Arabian man who has fled the country after killing a young girl in a hit-an-run accident.

Abdulrahman Sameer Noorah fled the US with the help of Saudi officials and returned to his home country after a deadly 2016 car accident in the state of Oregon, which killed 15-year-old Fallon Smart.

"The United States and Saudi Arabia do not have a bilateral extradition treaty, and Saudi Arabia does not extradite its nationals to the United States," wrote Mary Elizabeth Taylor, the  US State Department's assistant secretary of legislative affairs, according to BBC.

"Therefore, the law enforcement options available are limited," she added.

Noorah, who was 21 at the time of the crash, was flown out of the US on board a private plane using a fake passport, US federal authorities later told the Oregonian newspaper.

Upon his arrest, the Saudi consulate had provided $100,000 to bail Noorah out of jail and hired a team of private lawyers to defend him.

Before killing Smart, the Saudi suspect had received a scholarship from the Saudi government to study in the US. He was last spotted leaving his home in Portland with his black SUV.

In a condolence letter to Oregon Senator Ron Wyden and Smart’s family, a senior US diplomat wrote that the State Department "fully understands their desire to see Noorah prosecuted" but his extradition was unlikely.

Taylor said Washington had became aware of Noorah’s return through "police-to-police" channels, but US officials had "no concrete, credible evidence as to how Mr. Noorah effected his escape".

The Oregonian newspaper said it had evidence of at least 16 similar cases, where Saudi university students had vanished while facing criminal charges around the US and Canada. According to the paper, they had managed to flee even after surrendering their passports to police, as Noorah did.

Senator Wyden showed his outrage over the issue by writing a scathing letter to US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, accusing him of "covering for an authoritarian regime that is exporting lawlessness around the globe."

"Secretary Pompeo is proud to brag about America's military and economic dominance, but he apparently believes the State Department is powerless to stand up to Saudi Arabia's long pattern of apparently helping criminal suspects escape US justice.

"That is not good enough for the victims of these violent crimes in Oregon and across the country," he added.

Chris Larsen, a lawyer for Smart's family, told the Oregonian that the family was "disappointed with the State Department's apparent unwillingness to use its considerable diplomatic power to work with the Saudi government to return Mr Noorah to Oregon to face trial for his crimes."

He said Pompeo could negotiate Noorah’s extradition with Saudi King Salman.

"We understand that while 'the law enforcement options are limited', the Department of State options are not so limited," he said.

Press TV’s website can also be accessed at the following alternate addresses:

www.presstv.co.uk