Thread: Saudi treason arrests

Saudi crown prince signals new purge with ‘treason’ arrests
King’s brother and Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s predecessor are accused of coup plot

A purge of princes and aides continued across Saudi Arabia on Saturday after the kingdom’s crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, claimed to have foiled a coup being plotted by two of the country’s most senior royals – widely seen as among the few left standing in the way of his ascension.

Prince Ahmed bin Abdul Aziz, the only full brother of the monarch, King Salman, and Mohammed bin Nayef, who was heir to the throne until being ousted by Prince Mohammed, face treason charges after being accused of organising against the ambitious heir.

Their arrest on Friday shocked the country and sparked a new round of speculation about the 84 year old king’s hold on the throne. Exiled dissidents suggested Prince Mohammed’s announcement masked an imminent push to take power from his father. The claims were given impetus by royal court insiders, one of whom suggested through a source that the moves against the two princes were made as a preventative measure, following a sudden deterioration in the King’s health. However, those claims were firmly denied by officials inside Saudi Arabia.

King Salman, is believed to have signed the warrants that justified his brother’s arrest and that of the man slated to replace him until Prince Mohammed was drafted in, following a palace coup in 2017, and named crown prince.

Since then Prince Mohammed, now 34, has assiduously eliminated threats against him, most famously by later that year locking up much of the country’s business elite in the Ritz-Carlton in Riyadh, including senior royals, who were forced to sign over assets. Some were also stripped of their positions.

A year later, in the aftermath of the murder by Saudi agents of Jamal Khashoggi in Istanbul, Prince Ahmed was lured back to Saudi Arabia after many years living in exile in London. Known as a critic of the crown prince, his return was hailed as a sign that the hard-charging heir was prepared to tolerate dissent – a claim widely rejected by critics at home and abroad.

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Saudi crown prince signals new purge with ‘treason’ arrests | World news | The Guardian

Much more arrests in Riyadh...

In the meantime in Hollywood:

Hollywood Shuns Jamal Khashoggi Doc ‘The Dissident’ Over Fear of Saudi Backlash, Insiders Say
Hollywood Shuns Jamal Khashoggi Doc 'The Dissident' Over Fear of Saudi Backlash, Insiders Say

Better to dust off the thrilling story about Novitchok - no worry about any backlash of (please no names here)...