Saudi arrests princes and ministers
SAUDI Arabia has arrested dozens of senior figures including princes, ministers and a top business tycoon, in what authorities hailed yesterday as a decisive anti-corruption sweep as the kingdom’s crown prince consolidates power.
Prominent billionaire Al-Waleed bin Talal was among 11 princes arrested on Saturday, reports said, immediately after a new anti-corruption commission headed by crown prince Mohammed bin Salman was established by royal decree.
Separately, the head of the Saudi National Guard, once a leading contender to the throne, as well as the navy chief and the economy minister, were replaced in a series of highprofile sackings that sent shock waves through the kingdom.
The dramatic purge comes at a time of unprecedented social and economic transformation in ultra-conservative Saudi Arabia, as prince Mohammed steps up his reform drive for a post-oil era.
An aviation source said forces had grounded private jets at airports, possibly to prevent high-profile figures from leaving the country.
“The breadth and scale of the arrests appear 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 Al-Waleed bin Talal, if true, would send shock waves through the domestic and international business community,” Ulrichsen said.
The purge comes less than two weeks after Prince Mohammed, 32, 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. Analysts said many of those detained were resistant to prince Mohammed’s aggressive foreign policy that includes the boycott of Qatar as well as some of his bold policy reforms, including privatising 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. — AFP