Odisha News, Odisha Latest news, Odisha Daily - OrissaPOST
  • Home
  • State
  • Metro
  • National
  • International
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Feature
  • Timeout
  • Entertainment
  • Sports
  • Sci-Tech
  • Others
    • COVID-19
    • Today’s Pic
  • Home
  • State
  • Metro
  • National
  • International
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Feature
  • Timeout
  • Entertainment
  • Sports
  • Sci-Tech
  • Others
    • COVID-19
    • Today’s Pic
No Result
View All Result
OrissaPOST - Odisha Latest news, English Daily -
No Result
View All Result

Saudi Arabia’s arrest of 2 princes called a warning to other royal family members

Agencies
Updated: March 9th, 2020, 07:14 IST
in Feature, International
0
Saudi Arabia's King Salman

Saudi Arabia's King Salman

Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on WhatsAppShare on Linkedin

Dubai: Saudi Arabia’s King Salman was shown in state media Sunday in apparent good health and working, just days after the arrest of two senior princes triggered speculation about a possible coup attempt or a sudden deterioration in the king’s health.

Two people close to the royal family said Saturday that the two princes were under arrest for not supporting Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who has consolidated control of all major levers of power inside the kingdom with the support of his father, King Salman.

The arrests of the king’s younger and beloved brother, Prince Ahmed bin Abdelaziz, and the king’s nephew and former counterterrorism czar, Prince Mohammed bin Nayef, came after what one person in Saudi Arabia with knowledge of the arrests described as an accumulation of behaviour that was provocative to leadership.

The source added that the arrests sent a message to anyone in the royal family feeling disenfranchised: Stop grumbling and toe the line, because if Prince Ahmed can be arrested, any prince can and will be. Prince Ahmed was seen as a person who royals could look to when feeling vexed with the crown prince’s grip on power, the person said.

The reports of a crackdown emerged early Friday. In the king’s first appearance since then, state media showed the 84-year-old king Sunday standing and greeting two Saudi diplomats being sworn in as ambassadors. He was previously seen Thursday meeting with British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab in Riyadh.

The arrests came as a surprise, given that Prince Mohammed bin Nayef, 60, was widely known to be under close surveillance since he was shunted out of the line of succession by the king’s son in mid-2017, a person close to the royal court said.

The arrest of Prince Ahmed, 78, was also unexpected since he is the king’s full younger brother and also a senior member of the ruling Al Saud family.

Prince Ahmed, however, has long held unfavourable views of the crown prince and was one of just a few senior princes to abstain from pledging allegiance to him when the young royal sidelined more senior princes to become first in line to the throne.

Both princes had served previously in the post of interior minister, overseeing security and surveillance inside the kingdom.

The Wall Street Journal first reported the arrests, quoting unidentified sources allied with the royal court as saying the princes were plotting a palace coup that would halt the rise of the crown prince. The Journal has since reported that the sweep broadened to include dozens of Interior Ministry officials, senior army officers and others suspected of supporting a coup attempt.

The two people who talked to The Associated Press declined to characterize actions by the two princes as a coup attempt. They agreed to discuss the highly sensitive matter related to security only if granted anonymity.

There has been no official comment from Saudi authorities on the arrests. The crown prince has succeeded in a few short years at sweeping aside any competition from royals older and more experienced than him. He has also overhauled the most powerful security bodies to report to him.

Prince Mohammed bin Nayef is well-known and liked by U.S. intelligence officials for his counterterrorism cooperation in past years against al-Qaida. As head of the interior ministry, he was a feared and towering figure who oversaw the long arm of the government that both prosecuted and closely monitored and jailed dissidents and critics of the kingdom.

Prince Ahmed has been seen as critical of the crown prince, including telling protesters who were accosting him in London to ask the king and his son about the humanitarian disaster sparked by the war in Yemen. Religiously conservative, the prince also recently grumbled over the decision to close Islam’s holiest site in Mecca to stymie the spread of the new coronavirus, according to one of the people familiar with the arrests.

The arrest of the two senior princes is most likely a preemptive move to manage risks of a transition from King Salman to his son, according to an analysis by Eurasia Group. Both princes were seen as possible alternatives to Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

The crown prince has succeeded in consolidating power and cementing his place as the day-to-day ruler, in part through far-reaching crackdowns on perceived critics or competitors.

The October 2018 killing of Saudi columnist Jamal Khashoggi by agents close to the crown prince inside the kingdom’s consulate in Istanbul, however, damaged the prince’s reputation globally.

Foreign investors were also rattled by an anti-corruption operation overseen by the prince in late 2017 that saw top royals, officials and senior businessmen rounded up and detained for up to several months in the luxurious Ritz-Carlton hotel in Riyadh and forced to sign over billions of dollars in assets in exchange for their freedom in secretive agreements.

AP

Tags: 2 princesArrestroyal family membersSaudi ArabiaWARNING
ShareTweetSendShare
Suggest A Correction

Enter your email to get our daily news in your inbox.

Related Posts

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar Wednesday embarked on a four-day visit to Tanzania.

US misses the ‘bigger picture’ on row with Canada, says Jaishankar

October 1, 2023
Pakistan - Iran - Anti-Terrorism

Iran ready for ‘anti-terrorism’ cooperation with Pakistan

October 1, 2023
Representational Image

North Korea will never be recognised as nuclear-weapon state: South Korea

October 1, 2023
Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj

UK museum to sign pact for Shivaji’s ‘Tiger Claws’ journey to India

October 1, 2023
Vikram Doraiswami

Scotland gurdwara condemns Khalistani extremists for disrupting Indian envoy visit

October 1, 2023
Classic song remixes

Remixes in music: Echoes of nostalgia

October 1, 2023

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

OrissaPOST epaper Sunday POST OrissaPOST epaper

Click Here: Plastic Free Odisha

No Content Available

Archives

Editorial

Discrimination

October 1, 2023

Four centuries ago, the ambassador Sir Henry Wotton defined a diplomat as “an honest gentleman sent to lie abroad for...

Read more

Inspirational Tale

September 30, 2023

Transfers are an essential tool for the government to maintain control. However, frequent transfers of babus, especially those who perform...

Read more

Only Brave Talk

September 27, 2023

When China’s President Xi Jinping told the International Olympic Committee chief Thomas Bach in Hangzhou a day before the opening...

Read more

Road Tragedy

September 26, 2023

The recent late night road mishap that resulted in the death of a young medical practitioner Dr Amit Bisoi on...

Read more
  • Home
  • State
  • Metro
  • National
  • International
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Feature
  • Sports
  • Sci-Tech
  • About Us
  • Advertise
  • Contact Us
  • Career
Developed By Ratna Technology

© 2020 All rights Reserved by OrissaPOST

  • Home
  • Metro
  • State
  • National
  • International
  • Sports
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Feature
  • Opinion
  • Sci-Tech
  • COVID-19
  • Today’s Pic
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Career
  • Facebook
  • Twitter

© 2020 All rights Reserved by OrissaPOST