Saudi crown prince cements power with anti-graft sweep
Bank accounts of arrested princes, ministers, tycoon to be frozen
RIYADH: Saudi Arabia pursued a sweeping purge of the kingdom’s upper ranks yesterday, saying it would freeze the accounts of dozens of princes, ministers and a tycoon arrested as the crown prince cements his hold on power. Prominent billionaire Alwaleed bin Talal was among the princes arrested late Saturday, a government source told AFP, immediately after a new anti-corruption commission headed by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman was established by royal decree. The body was given broad powers to investigate cases, issue arrest warrants and travel restrictions, and seize assets. “The homeland will not exist unless corruption is uprooted and the corrupt are held accountable,” the royal decree said.
The crackdown also targeted the head of the Saudi National Guard, once a leading contender to the throne, as well as the navy chief and the economy minister, who were replaced and arrested in a series of highprofile sackings that sent shockwaves through the kingdom. The dramatic shakeup comes at a time of unprecedented social and economic transformation in ultraconservative Saudi Arabia, as Prince Mohammed steps up his reform drive for a post-oil era.
Saudi-owned Al Arabiya television reported that 11 princes, four current ministers and dozens of ex-ministers were arrested as the commission launched a probe into old cases such as floods that devastated the Red Sea city of Jeddah in 2009. The government official gave AFP a list of 14 of the most high-profile names including Prince Alwaleed, ranked among the richest men in the world. The information ministry separately said the bank accounts of those arrested will be “frozen” and any assets related to the corruption cases will be registered as state property.
“The suspects are being granted the same rights and treatment as any other Saudi citizen,” attorney general Sheikh Saud Al-Mojeb said in a statement, adding that a number of investigations had been initiated. “A suspect’s position or status does not influence the firm and fair application of justice.” The royal decree said the arrests were in response to “exploitation by some of the weak souls who have put their own interests above the public interest, in order to, illicitly, accrue money”.
Shares in Kingdom Holding, 95 percent of which is owned by Prince Alwaleed, dived 9.9 percent as the Saudi stock exchange opened yesterday after reports of his arrest. The share price later recovered some of its losses to end the day down 7.6 percent. In a statement Kingdom Holding said it was “aware” of Saturday’s developments but insisted that it was “business as usual” after the chief executive of the company was assured of support from the government.
Saudi Finance Minister Mohammed AlJadaan said the crackdown “heralds a new era and policy of transparency, clarity and accountability”. “The decisive decisions will preserve the investment environment and boost trust in the rule of law,” the Saudi Press Agency quoted him as saying.
The kingdom’s top council of clerics also lauded the anticorruption efforts as “important”, essentially giving religious backing to the crackdown.
An aviation source told AFP that security forces had grounded private jets at airports, possibly to prevent highprofile figures from leaving the country. There was fevered speculation on social media that the arrested figures were being held at Riyadh’s Ritz Carlton, a palatial hotel originally planned as a palace for guests of the royal family. The hotel appeared to be closed off to the public yesterday. A Saudi official told AP that other five-star hotels across the capital were also being used to hold some of those arrested. The Ritz Carlton had no availability for bookings until Dec 1, 2017 - a possible sign that an investigation of this scale could take weeks. Marriott International said in a statement that it is currently evaluating the situation at the RitzCarlton in Riyadh, but declined to comment further, citing privacy concerns.
“The breadth and scale of the arrests appears to be unprecedented in modern Saudi history,” said Kristian Ulrichsen, a fellow at the Baker Institute for Public Policy at Rice University. “The reported detention of Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, if true, would send shock waves through the domestic and international business community,” Ulrichsen told AFP. The purge comes less than two weeks after Prince Mohammed welcomed thousands of global business leaders to Riyadh for an investment summit, showcasing his reform drive that has shaken up the kingdom.
It follows a wave of arrests of influential clerics and activists in September as the 32-year-old prince, often known as MBS, consolidates his hold on power. Analysts said many of those detained were resistant to Prince Mohammed’s aggressive foreign policy that includes the boycott of Gulf neighbor Qatar as well as some of his bold policy reforms, including privatizing state assets and cutting subsidies. The latest purge saw Prince Miteb bin Abdullah sacked as the head of the National Guard, an elite internal security force. His removal consolidates the crown prince’s control of the kingdom’s security institutions. To analysts, Prince Mohammed’s meteoric rise has seemed almost Shakespearean in its aggression and calculation. In June, he edged out a 58-year-old cousin, Prince Mohammed bin Nayef, to become heir to the throne.
Already viewed as the de facto ruler controlling all the major levers of government, from defense to the economy, the prince is widely seen to be stamping out traces of internal dissent before a formal transfer of power from his 81-year-old father King Salman. At the same time, he has projected himself as a liberal reformer in the ultra-conservative kingdom with a series of bold moves including the decision allowing women to drive from next June.
Over the past year, MBS has become the ultimate decision-maker for the kingdom’s military, foreign, economic and social policies, causing resentment among parts of the Al Saud dynasty frustrated by his meteoric rise. Other detainees include former Finance Minister Ibrahim Al-Assaf, a board member of national oil giant Saudi Aramco; ousted Economy Minister Adel Fakieh, who once played a major role in drafting MBS’ reforms; former Riyadh Governor Prince Turki bin Abdullah and Khalid Al-Tuwaijiri, who headed the Royal Court under the late King Abdullah.
People on Twitter applauded the arrests of certain ministers with some comparing them to “the night of the long knives”, a violent purge of political leaders in Nazi Germany in 1934. Bakr bin Laden, chairman of the big Saudi Binladin construction group, and Alwaleed Al-Ibrahim, owner of the MBC television network, were also detained.
Prince Alwaleed, a flamboyant character, has sometimes used his prominence as an investor to aim barbs at the kingdom’s rulers. In Dec 2015, he called then-US presidential candidate Donald Trump a “disgrace to all America” and demanded on Twitter that he withdraw from the election. Trump responded by tweeting: “Dopey Prince @Alwaleed_Talal wants to control our US politicians with daddy’s money. Can’t do it when I get elected.” His father, Prince Talal, is considered one of the most vocal supporters of reform in the ruling Al Saud family, having pressed for a constitutional monarchy decades ago.