Saudi prince pledges an end to ‘extremism’
Heir to the throne unveils plans to modernise the kingdom and wean it off its dependence on oil
Saudi Arabia will end “destructive extremism” as it transforms itself back into a “moderate” Islamic kingdom, its young crown prince has pledged. Unveiling plans for an ambitious £380billion economic development zone larger than Wales, Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the 32-yearold heir to the throne, promised that a new “tolerant” Saudi would welcome all religions, modernise its social policies and embrace new technology. The prince wants to wean his country off its dependence on oil.
SAUDI ARABIA’S ambitious young crown prince said he wanted to lead his country back to “moderate Islam”, as he announced plans for a vast £380billion economic development zone.
Prince Mohammed bin Salman told investors in Riyadh that his economic modernisation plans would go handin-hand with political reforms to guide the conservative kingdom away from severe Wahhabi Islam.
“We are returning to what we were before – a country of moderate Islam that is open to all religions and to the world,” the 32-year-old prince said. “Seventy per cent of the Saudi population is under 30, and honestly we will not spend the next 30 years of our lives dealing with destructive ideas. We will destroy them today and at once. We will end extremism very soon.”
The prince said he wanted to move his country past 1979, the year in which Wahhabi clerics forcefully asserted themselves over Saudi politics following the assassination of King Faisal in 1975. While the years before had seen a gradual expansion of education for women, as well as growing use of technology, much of that progress came to a halt after the killing of the king, and in the decades since, Saudi’s social policies have been largely frozen in time.
The prince’s pledge was a challenge to Saudi’s conservative clerics.
It came as he announced plans for NEOM, an economic zone stretching across Saudi’s borders into neighbouring Egypt and Jordan, covering 26,500 sq km. It will be bigger than Wales and significantly larger than neighbouring Israel, Lebanon or Kuwait.
Prince Mohammed wants to modernise the kingdom and wean it off its dependence on oil. His vision for Saudi’s future could see robots outnumbering humans, drones carrying passengers and an omnipresent highspeed internet known as “digital air”.
The kingdom has announced reforms, including allowing women to drive, but it remains one of the world’s most socially conservative societies.
Prince Mohammed’s plans have been applauded by many Western leaders but some analysts are sceptical that he will be able to push through economic and political changes on the scale he is talking about.
The investment conference itself was intended as a symbol of modernity and dubbed by some observers as “Davos in the Desert”. Men and women sat together at the event, attended by high-profile figures such as Tony Blair and Christine Lagarde, the head of the International Monetary Fund.
Prince Mohammed, whose father King Salman is 81 and in poor health, became heir to the throne in June at the expense of his older cousin, Prince Mohammed bin Nayef.