Saudi princes, ministers held in sweeping purge
Jailing of top royals and businessmen under sweeping anticorruption probe sees crown prince further cement authority
RIYADH: Saudi authorities detained one of the kingdom’s most prominent businessmen and the head of the National Guard in a sweeping anti-corruption inquiry that gives crown prince Mohammed bin Salman more authority.
Billionaire prince Alwaleed bin Talal, who owns investment firm Kingdom Holding, was among 11 princes, four ministers and tens of former ministers detained, two senior Saudi officials said.
News of the purge came in the early hours of Sunday after King Salman decreed the creation of a new anti-corruption committee chaired by his 32-year-old son prince Mohammed, who has swiftly amassed power since rising from obscurity less than three years ago.
The new body was given broad powers to investigate cases, issue arrest warrants and travel restrictions and freeze assets. “The homeland will not exist unless corruption is uprooted and the corrupt are held accountable,” the royal decree said. Many analysts said the goal of the purge went beyond corruption and aimed to remove any potential for opposition to prince Mohammed as he pushes an ambitious and controversial reform agenda.
In September he announced that a ban on women driving would be lifted and he is trying to break decades of conservative tradition by promoting public entertainment and visits by foreign tourists.
In economic policy, he has slashed state spending in some areas and plans a big sale of state assets.
An economist at a big Gulf bank, declining to be named because of political sensitivities, said nobody in Saudi Arabia believed corruption was at the root of the purge. “It’s about consolidating power and frustration that reforms haven’t been happening fast enough,” the economist said.
Other people detained in the probe include top security official prince Miteb bin Abdullah, former finance minister Ibrahim al-Assaf, economy minister Adel Fakieh, former Riyadh governor prince Turki bin Abdullah, and Khalid al-Tuwaijiri, who headed the Royal Court under the late King Abdullah.
RIYADH: Saudi Arabia has arrested dozens of princes, senior military officers, businessmen and top officials as part of a sweeping anti-corruption probe that further cements control in the hands of its young crown prince.
A high-level employee at billionaire Prince Alwaleed bin Talal’s Kingdom Holding Co said the royal— one of the world’s richest men— was among those detained overnight on Saturday.
The arrests, which also reportedly include two of the late King Abdullah’s sons, were hailed by pro-government media outlets as the greatest sign yet that Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is keeping his promise to reform the country, long plagued by allegations of corruption at the highest levels of government.
Analysts have suggested the arrest of once-untouchable members of the royal family is the latest sign that the 32-year-old crown prince is moving to quash potential rivals or critics. The prince’s swift rise to power has unnerved elder members of the ruling Al Saud family, which has long ruled by consensus, though ultimate decision-making remains with the monarch.
The king named his son, the crown prince, as head of an anticorruption committee established on Saturday, just hours before its arrest of top officials.
A Saudi government official with close ties to security said 11 princes and 38 others are being held in five-star hotels across the capital Riyadh.
The scale of the arrests is unprecedented in Saudi Arabia, where senior royals and their business associates were seen as operating above the law.
Shortly before the arrests, King Salman had ousted Prince Miteb bin Abdullah from his post as head of the National Guard. The prince is reportedly among
those detained in the sweep, as is his brother, Prince Turki bin Abdullah, who was once governor of Riyadh.
Prince Miteb was once considered a contender for the throne.
The finance ministry said the anti-corruption probe “opens a new era of transparency and accountability,” enhances confidence in the rule of law and improves the kingdom’s investment climate.
Reports suggested those detained were being held in the Ritz Carlton in Riyadh, which only days earlier hosted a major investment conference.