11 Saudi princes, tycoon arrested
Crown prince secures grip on power
• Saudi Arabian authorities have arrested dozens of high-ranking officials, including the billionaire prince who owns the Savoy Hotel in London, in an anti-corruption crackdown that strengthens Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s grip on power.
Police arrested 49 people including 11 princes, four ministers and tens of former ministers in raids across Riyadh, the Saudi Arabian capital, in the early hours of Sunday morning.
Royal planes were grounded as authorities swooped in, corralling princes, former officials and media-tycoons into five-star hotels across the capital for questioning.
The arrests include relatives of Prince Mohammed, 32, and came just hours after the launch of a new anticorruption mechanism he oversees.
The detainees include Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, a multibillionaire who has major stakes in News Corp, Citigroup and Twitter. He coowns the Four Seasons hotel chain along with Microsoft’s Bill Gates and he is sole owner of the Savoy.
Also caught in the purge was Prince Miteb bin Abdullah, the last of the late King Abdullah’s sons to hold a position of power. Until yesterday, he was head of Saudi Arabia’s National Guard, which accounts for about half of the country’s military. The rest of the military answers directly to Prince Mohammed.
Other arrests include Ibrahim al-Assaf, a former finance minister; Adel Fakieh, an economy minister; and Prince Turki bin Abdullah, a former governor of Riyadh.
Major business figures including Bakr bin Laden, chairman of the Saudi Binladin construction group, and Alwaleed al-Ibrahim, owner of the MBC television network, were also detained.
Saudi Arabia’s attorney general, Sheikh Saud Al Mojeb, said the actions carried out by the supreme anti-corruption committee, which was formed by order of King Salman, the crown prince’s father, on Saturday, were undertaken “as part of the state’s judicial duty to combat corruption.”
“The suspects are being granted the same rights and treatment as any other Saudi citizen,” he said.
“A suspect’s position or status does not influence the firm and fair application of justice.”
He called the operation “part of an overhaul to ensure transparency, openness and good governance.”
Prince Mohammed has been the effective head of government since King Salman appointed him crown prince in June 2017. MBS, as he is often known, has unveiled a raft of radical reforms since he came to power.
However, he has also been accused of seeking to concentrate power in his own hands and using reform as an excuse to crack down on potential political adversaries.
The ousting of Prince Miteb, in particular, removes a powerful rival who was once seen as a contender to the Saudi throne.
“It’s very much Mohammed bin Salman’s style to make the sudden, bold, dramatic overnight moves, but this is at the same time about going after corruption and about political convenience,” said Jane Kinninmont, an expert on Saudi affairs at Chatham House, the Royal Institute of International Affairs.
The Saudi government said Sunday that the bank accounts of those arrested would be frozen.
“The accounts and balances of those detained will be revealed and frozen. Any asset or property related to these cases of corruption will be registered as state property,” the kingdom’s information ministry said.
The arrest of al-Assaf, who is also a board member of Saudi Aramco, could throw into jeopardy the plans for a blockbuster float of Saudi Arabia’s national oil explorer.
Saudi Aramco declined to comment.