Mohammed bin Nayef: the man who would not be king
The royal who was the kingdom’s most recognisable figure on the world stage and first of a new generation of crown princes will never rule, but his work reforming extremists and women’s rights are a great legacy, James Langton reports
ABU DHABI // His appointment as crown prince of Saudi Arabia a little over two years ago was heralded as the end of more than 60 years of succession by the sons of Abdul Aziz bin Saud.
Yet in the end, it was not Prince Mohammed bin Nayef who was destined to become the first of the next generation to rule over the kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
His replacement by Prince Mohammed bin Salman, son of King Salman, and his removal as interior minister, also signal an end to his political life. Approaching his 60th year, Prince Mohammed bin Nayef has long been the most recognisable Saudi figure on the international stage, especially in the US, where he has reinforced the close ties between Washington and Riyadh under presidents Obama and Trump. Both inside and outside the kingdom, he forged a reputation as a determined and sometimes ruthless enemy to the forces of extremism.
After deadly terrorist attacks between 2003 and 2005, Prince Mohammed is credited with a security crackdown in which thousands were arrested and led to Al Qaeda being driven from the country within a year.
Three years later, he agreed to meet a Saudi recruit to Al Qaeda in Yemen. He claimed he spoke for several of his fellow countrymen who wished to surrender and return home.
It was an assassination attempt. The young man had a bomb planted inside his body but the explosion left the prince with only minor injuries.
That experience did not deter Prince Mohammed from his other strategy for dealing with those seduced by extremism.
Young Saudis who had left home to fight abroad were allowed to enter a de- indoctrination programme that would allow them to re-enter society, while providing support for the families of dead militants who had previously faced ostracision.
To date, more than 3,000 Saudi Arabian men have successfully graduated from his Mohammed bin Nayef Counselling and Care Centre, one of his enduring achievements. Educated in Riyadh and then in colleges in the US, the young prince was groomed early for his role in counterterrorism, training with the FBI and then Scotland Yard in London.
His experiences left him with an easy familiarity with the West and an openness to foreign media. According to The New York Times, he once summed up his rehabilitation strategy for terrorists by say-
If Prince Mohammed bin Nayef is not now destined to rule his people, he has at least smoothed the path for his successor
ing: “If you stop five but create 50, that’s dumb.”
As far back as 2012, the prince was warning that Yemen was in danger of becoming a failed state.
As the chair of the Council for Political and Security Affairs, Prince Mohammed played a leading role in the Saudi military coalition fighting to restore president Abdrabu Mansur Hadi and the fight against Houthi militants.
His efforts have brought international recognition, from the French Legion of Honour last year to the CIA’s George Tenet medal for contributions to fighting terrorism, four months ago.
Last year, Time magazine made him one of its 100 Most Influential People. For James B Smith, president Barack Obama’s ambassador to Riyadh until 2013, Prince Mohammed was, “the hardest working person I have seen in any government”.
At home, the prince has championed greater rights for women, opening up positions for them to work at the Saudi intelligence agency, the General Directorate of Intelligence. “We support women for the future and I don’t think there are obstacles we can’t overcome,” he said this April.
For many observers, his appointment as crown prince was a message to the Saudi people, a reassurance of stability and continuity during a time of sweeping domestic reforms. If Prince Mohammed is not now destined to rule his people, he has at least smoothed the path for his successor.