The prince and the coup
SAUDI KING’S SON PLOTTED EFFORT TO OUST HIS RIVAL
As next in line to be king of Saudi Arabia, Mohammed bin Nayef was unaccustomed to being told what to do. Then, one night in June, he was summoned to a palace in Mecca, held against his will and pressured for hours to give up his claim to the throne.
By dawn, he had given in, and Saudi Arabia awoke to the news that it had a new crown prince: the king’s 31-year-old son, Mohammed bin Salman.
The young prince’s supporters have lauded his elevation as the seamless empowerment of an ambitious leader. But since he was promoted June 21, indications have emerged that bin Salman plotted the ouster and that the transition was rockier than has been publicly portrayed.
To strengthen support for the sudden change in the line of succession, some senior princes were told that bin Nayef was unfit to be king because of a drug problem, according to an associate of the royal family.
The decision to oust bin Nayef and some of his closest colleagues has spread concern among counterterrorism officials in the United States who saw their most trusted Saudi contacts disappear.
And the collection of so much power by one young royal, bin Salman, has unsettled a royal family long guided by consensus and deference to elders.
“You may have now such a concentration of power within one branch and within one individual who is also younger than so many of the cousins and sons of former kings that it may begin to create a situation where the family is out of whack,” said Kristian Coates Ulrichsen, a fellow for the Middle East at Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy.
The insularity of Saudi Arabia’s sprawling and phenomenally wealthy royal family is well known, often leaving diplomats, intelligence agents and members of the family itself struggling to decipher its inner workings. The rivalry between the princes began in 2015, when King Salman ascended the throne and bestowed tremendous power on his favourite son.
Mohammed bin Salman was named deputy crown prince, or second in line to become king, as well as defence minister; put in charge of a powerful economic council; and given oversight of the state oil monopoly, Saudi Aramco.
Bin Salman elevated his profile with visits to China, Russia and the United States, where he met with Mark Zuckerberg, the Facebook chief executive, and dined with President Donald Trump in the White House. He has also guided Vision 2030, an ambitious plan for the future of the kingdom that seeks to transform the Saudi economy and improve life for citizens.
Bin Salman’s supporters praise him as a hardworking visionary who has addressed the kingdom’s challenges with extraordinary directness.
But his critics call him rash and power-hungry, saying he has entangled the country in a costly and so far failed war in Yemen that has killed many civilians, as well as in a feud with Qatar. Neither has a clear exit.
The prince has risen at the expense of his elder relatives, including bin Nayef, 57. As the head of the Saudi Interior Ministry, bin Nayef led the dismantling of alQaida in the kingdom after a deadly bombing campaign a decade ago.
But while his removal struck many as sudden, it had been planned out.
On the night of June 20, a group of senior princes and security officials gathered at the Safa Palace in Mecca after being informed that King Salman wanted to see them.
It was near the end of Ramadan, the Islamic holy month, when Saudis were preoccupied with religious duties and many royals had gathered in Mecca. That made it advantageous for a change, analysts said.
Before midnight, bin Nayef was told he was going to meet the king and was led into another room, where royal court officials took away his phones and pressured him to give up his posts as crown prince and interior minister, according to U.S. officials and an associate of the royal family.
At first, he refused. But as the night wore on, the prince, a diabetic who suffers from the effects of a 2009 assassination attempt by a suicide bomber, grew tired.
Meanwhile, royal court officials called members of the Allegiance Council, a body of princes who are supposed to approve changes to the line of succession. Some were told that bin Nayef had a drug problem and was unfit to be king, according to an associate of the royal family.
Sometime before dawn, Mohammed bin Nayef agreed to resign. A video shot afterward shows Mohammed bin Salman kissing his hand.
“We will never dispense with your instructions and advice,” the younger prince says.
“Good luck, God willing,” the older prince replies.
YOU MAY HAVE NOW SUCH A CONCENTRATION OF POWER WITHIN ONE BRANCH AND WITHIN ONE INDIVIDUAL ... THAT IT MAY BEGIN TO CREATE A SITUATION WHERE THE FAMILY IS OUT OF WHACK. — KRISTIAN COATES ULRICHSEN, RICE UNIVERSITY