{"id":195750,"date":"2019-10-03T13:00:20","date_gmt":"2019-10-03T13:00:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/?p=195750"},"modified":"2019-10-06T07:11:28","modified_gmt":"2019-10-06T07:11:28","slug":"saudi-arabias-ruling-family-begin-to-turn-on-mohammed-bin-salman","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/?p=195750","title":{"rendered":"Saudi Arabia’s ruling family begin to turn on Mohammed bin Salman"},"content":{"rendered":"
-> Prominent family members have expressed concern, diplomatic sources said<\/strong>
\n-> Crown prince is accused of attempting to take too tight a grip on power<\/strong>
\n-> Other Al Saud family members say his stance towards Iran is overtly aggressive<\/strong>
\n-> One source said in elite circles there is ‘no confidence’ in the young leader<\/strong><\/h5>\n

Ross Ibettson \u2013 Daily Mail Oct 3, 2019<\/h1>\n
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Prince Mohammed bin Salman. Click to enlarge<\/p><\/div>\n

Saudi Arabia’s ruling family have begun to turn on Mohammed bin Salman after an oil refinery strike last month sparked fears the crown prince cannot defend his kingdom.<\/span><\/p>\n

Several prominent members of the\u00a0ruling Al Saud dynasty, of around 10,000 members, have expressed concern for their country, which is the world’s largest oil exporter, senior diplomatic sources with ties to the royals said.<\/span><\/p>\n

The September 14 strikes have also fanned discontent among some in elite circles who believe the crown prince has sought too tight a grip on power, the sources said.<\/span><\/p>\n

Some of these people said the event has also fuelled criticism among those who believe he has pursued an overly aggressive stance towards Iran.<\/span><\/p>\n

‘There is a lot of resentment’ about the crown prince\u00b4s leadership, said one of the sources, a member of the Saudi elite with royal connections. ‘How were they not able to detect the attack?’<\/span><\/p>\n

This person added that some people in elite circles are saying they have ‘no confidence’ in the crown prince, an assertion echoed by the four other sources and the senior diplomat.<\/span><\/p>\n

The crown prince nonetheless has staunch supporters. A Saudi source within circles loyal to the crown prince said: ‘The latest events won\u00b4t affect him personally as a potential ruler because he is trying to stop the Iranian expansion in the region. This is a patriotic issue, and so he won\u00b4t be in danger, at least as long as the father lives.’<\/span><\/p>\n

A second senior foreign diplomat said ordinary Saudis still want to unite behind MbS as a strong, decisive, dynamic leader.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Saudi government media office did not respond to detailed questions from Reuters for this article.<\/span><\/p>\n

The crown prince, during a television interview aired Sunday by U.S. broadcaster CBS, said that defending Saudi Arabia was difficult because of the kingdom\u00b4s large size and the scale of threats it faces.<\/span><\/p>\n

‘It\u00b4s challenging to cover all of this fully,’ he said. He also called for ‘strong and firm’ global action to deter Iran but said he preferred a ‘peaceful solution’ to a military one.<\/span><\/p>\n

At stake is political stability in the world\u00b4s largest oil exporter, a key ally of the United States in the Middle East. The crown prince is officially next in line to the throne to his 83-year-old father, King Salman, and is de facto ruler of the country. He has vowed to transform the kingdom into a modern state.<\/span><\/p>\n

The 34-year-old crown prince, who is popular among young Saudis, has received praise at home for easing social restrictions in the conservative Muslim kingdom, granting women more rights and pledging to diversify Saudi Arabia\u00b4s oil-dependent economy. But state control of the media and a crackdown on dissent in the kingdom make it difficult to gauge levels of genuine enthusiasm domestically.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Houthi drones struck the Saudi oil facility. Click to enlarge<\/p><\/div>\n

The September 14 attack set ablaze two of state oil giant Saudi Aramco\u00b4s plants, initially knocking out half of the kingdom\u00b4s oil production — 5% of global oil output. Saudi Arabia has said Iran was responsible, an assessment that U.S. officials share. Iranian officials have denied involvement.<\/span><\/p>\n

‘The magnitude of these attacks is not lost on the population, nor is the fact that he (the crown prince) is the minister of defense and his brother is deputy defense minister, and yet arguably the country has suffered its largest attack ever and on the crown jewels,’ said Neil Quilliam, a senior research fellow at Chatham House, a London-based international affairs think tank.<\/span><\/p>\n

‘There\u00b4s a diminishing confidence in his ability to secure the country – and that\u00b4s a consequence of his policies,’ said Quilliam, a specialist on Saudi Arabia and the Gulf. MbS oversees foreign, security and defence policy.<\/span><\/p>\n

The attack has fuelled resentment that has simmered since the crown prince came to power two years ago, sweeping aside rivals to the throne and arresting hundreds of the kingdom\u00b4s most prominent figures on corruption allegations.<\/span><\/p>\n

MbS has seen his reputation overseas suffer from a costly war in Yemen against the Iran-aligned Houthi group that has killed tens of thousands of people and triggered a humanitarian crisis. He also came under international criticism over the murder a year ago of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in the kingdom\u00b4s Istanbul consulate, which the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency has said the crown prince ordered.<\/span><\/p>\n

The crown prince, during the CBS interview, denied ordering the killing of Khashoggi but said he ultimately bears ‘full responsibility’ as the kingdom’s de facto leader.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Evidence suggests journalist Jamal Khashoggi was tortured to death, dismembered and smuggled out of a Saudi Consulate. Click to enlarge<\/p><\/div>\n

Khashoggi was murdered by agents of the Saudi government without authorization or permission, said Saudi Arabia’s minister of state for foreign affairs, Adel al-Jubeir, during a moderated discussion hosted by the Council on Foreign Relations think tank in New York on September 24.<\/span><\/p>\n

Some Saudi critics say MbS\u00b4s aggressive foreign policy towards Iran and involvement in the war in Yemen exposed the kingdom to attack, according to four of the sources with ties to the royals and business elite. They also express frustration that the crown prince was unable to prevent the attacks despite spending hundreds of billions of dollars on defence, according to the five sources and one of the senior diplomats.<\/span><\/p>\n

Jubeir, the Saudi minister, in his recent remarks in New York, said the kingdom\u00b4s air defences have stopped hundreds of ballistic missiles and dozens of drones coming into Saudi Arabia. He added that the failure to detect the September 14 attack was ‘being looked at,’ but that ‘it\u00b4s very difficult to detect small objects that fly at three hundred feet of altitude.’<\/span><\/p>\n

Some Saudi elite say the crown prince\u00b4s efforts to consolidate control have hurt the kingdom. One source close to government circles said MbS has installed officials who were generally less experienced than previously.<\/span><\/p>\n

MbS ousted Mohammed bin Nayef as crown prince and interior minister two years ago. The former crown prince had nearly two decades of experience in senior roles in the ministry, which was responsible for domestic policing and intelligence. MbS named a 33-year-old cousin as a replacement, after placing key areas of intelligence and counter-terrorism under the royal court\u00b4s purview.<\/span><\/p>\n

The crown prince also removed Prince Miteb bin Abdullah, who had overseen or effectively commanded the kingdom\u00b4s elite internal security force, the Saudi Arabian National Guard, since 1996. The prince was ultimately replaced at the end of last year by then-32-year-old Prince Abdullah bin Bandar bin Abdulaziz, who had been deputy governor of Mecca for less than two years and before that in private business.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Saudi government media office did not immediately respond to a request for comment addressed to Prince Abdullah.<\/span><\/p>\n

Saudi insiders and Western diplomats say the family is unlikely to oppose MbS while the king remains alive, recognising that the king is unlikely to turn against his favourite son. The monarch has delegated most responsibilities of rule to his son but still presides over weekly cabinet meetings and receives foreign dignitaries.<\/span><\/p>\n

Regardless of the king\u00b4s future, the insiders and diplomats say, a challenge to MbS\u00b4s authority could be difficult given his hold on the internal security structure.<\/span><\/p>\n

Some royals view 77-year-old Prince Ahmed bin Abdulaziz, King Salman\u00b4s only surviving full brother, as a possible alternative who would have support of family members, the security apparatus and some Western powers, said two of the five sources with ties to Saudi elite.<\/span><\/p>\n

‘They are all looking at Ahmed to see what he does. The family continues to think he is the only one who can save them,’ said one prominent businessman.<\/span><\/p>\n

There is no evidence Prince Ahmed is willing to play that role, according to Saudi watchers. Prince Ahmed has largely kept a low profile since returning to Riyadh in October 2018 after 2-1\/2 months abroad. During the trip, he appeared to criticize the Saudi leadership while responding to protesters outside a London residence chanting for the downfall of the Al Saud dynasty.<\/span><\/p>\n

Prince Ahmed was one of only three people on the Allegiance Council, made up of the ruling family\u00b4s senior members, who opposed MbS becoming crown prince in 2017, two Saudi sources said at the time.<\/span><\/p>\n

Prince Ahmed couldn\u00b4t be reached for comment. One of the five sources with ties to Saudi elite said that Prince Ahmed’s position on whether he will challenge MbS is that he ‘will cross that bridge when we come to it.’<\/span><\/p>\n

Source <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The oil refinery strike by Houthi rebels has sparked fears that the crown prince cannot defend the kingdom<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":39262,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[19,61],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-195750","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-Behind_The_News","category-Commentary"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/195750","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/39262"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=195750"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/195750\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":195757,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/195750\/revisions\/195757"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=195750"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=195750"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=195750"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}