Category Archives: Mohammed bin Salman

Saudi state companies sue ex-spy chief in Canada over alleged $3bn fraud

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Saad Aljabri, once a top aide to the former heir to the throne, has said he will fight the ‘recycled corruption allegations’

Saudi state-owned companies have sued the country’s former intelligence chief in a Canadian court, alleging he stole billions of dollars, according to documents obtained by the news agency Agence France-Presse.

The 10 subsidiaries of Tahakom Investment Co – which is owned by Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund – said in the civil suit filed in Ontario superior court that Saad Aljabri committed a “massive fraud” totalling at least US$3.47bn.

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Biden administration ‘to declassify report’ into Khashoggi murder

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Decision would mean US could assign blame for death on to Saudi crown prince Mohammed bin Salman

The Biden administration will declassify an intelligence report into the murder by the Saudi government of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, according to Avril Haines, who has been nominated to serve as director of national intelligence.

The decision means that the US is likely to officially assign blame for Khashoggi’s brutal murder to the kingdom’s de facto ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

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Qatar and Saudi Arabia breakthrough is more exhaustion than compromise

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Talk of brotherly unity rather than lessons learned dominated the Gulf Cooperation Council summit

The meeting on Tuesday between Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler, crown prince Mohammed bin Salman and his Qatari counterpart Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani was hailed as a breakthrough that brought together two feuding parties who were finally willing to resolve their differences.

But as the two leaders gathered at a Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) summit in the north-western Saudi region of Al-Ula there was no mention of concessions, or further ultimatums, such as those that had led to the rift. The detente seemed borne more of exhaustion than compromise; the talk more of brotherly unity than lessons learned, and the end to it all more about the incoming US president than regional realpolitik.

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Jamal Khashoggi’s fiancee urges Joe Biden to release CIA report

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US president-elect can help uncover truth about Saudi journalist’s murder, says Hatice Cengiz

Hatice Cengiz, the fiancee of Jamal Khashoggi, has called on the US president-elect, Joe Biden, to release the CIA’s classified report into the Washington Post journalist’s murder once he enters the White House, a move she said would “greatly assist” in uncovering the truth.

The classified intelligence assessment has never been released but media outlets have reported, without providing more details, that it concludes with “medium to high confidence” that the Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, ordered the killing.

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Detained former Saudi crown prince at risk after social media attack, say lawyers

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Exclusive: YouTube asked to remove video claiming Mohammed bin Nayef plotted to bring down current regime

Mohammed bin Nayef – the detained former Saudi crown prince and interior minister – has been the victim of a sustained and coordinated attack from inside Saudi Arabia on social media that risks endangering his personal safety, lawyers acting for him have warned.

The lawyers have written to YouTube demanding it take down a video, saying the content claiming he had been plotting to bring down Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman runs the risk of inviting serious retribution and harm to him. YouTube has not yet acted on the complaint.

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Saudis may stall on Trump’s Middle East peace plan now he’s on the way out

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The Palestinians are hoping a Biden presidency will slow the growing rapport between Saudi Arabia and Israel

During the last year of Donald Trump’s presidency, the question of whether Saudi Arabia would make peace with Israel had come down to a question of when.

The terms of such a deal were more or less agreed during Trump’s tumultuous term, thrashed out between his envoy and son-in-law, Jared Kushner, and the kingdom’s effective ruler, Mohammed bin Salman, who held a very different view of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict from other Saudi leaders.

Their outlook centred on Iran rather than the Israeli-Palestinian conflict being the centre of the region’s dysfunction. And Israel, they agreed, could help, not hinder, progress on that score. Prince Mohammed eschewed his father and uncles’ views that a return to 1967 lines was a starting point for peace, in favour of the Kushner line that Palestinian leaders had caused talks to stagnate.

Ties warmed quickly, especially from May 2017, when Saudi Arabia received Trump as a conquering hero after he overturned the nuclear deal with Tehran and reorientated Washington’s focus to Riyadh.

The secret channels used to communicate between the kingdom and Israel were discarded. So was the need for mediators, as Saudi officials made regular visits to Tel Aviv and vice versa. Denials of such trips were replaced by hints that they had taken place. Then came peace deals with Saudi allies, the UAE and Bahrain, and now a visit by Benjamin Netanyahu to Prince Mohammed on Saudi soil that Israel didn’t bother to disguise.

Despite a flight path visible on flight tracking sites, which showed the arrival of Netanyahu’s preferred charter jet on the shores of the Red Sea city of Neom, Riyadh responded with a pro forma denial.

There to meet the Israeli prime minister on the shores of the Red Sea was outgoing US secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, on a mission to finalise as much as he can before he loses his job in eight weeks. Securing a peace pact is something Pompeo, Kushner and Trump have desperately pushed for and such a deal would indeed be seismic in the Middle East, where many are nervously awaiting its impact.

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Netanyahu holds secret meeting with Saudi crown prince – reports

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Israeli PM is said to have flown to Saudi Arabia to meet Mohammed bin Salman and Mike Pompeo

Benjamin Netanyahu has made an unannounced trip to Saudi Arabia to meet the Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, and US secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, according to media reports in Israel.

The Sunday night trip, if confirmed, would mark an extremely rare high-level meeting between the long-time foes, one that Israel has been pushing for in its efforts for regional acceptance. Hebrew-language reports, citing unnamed Israeli officials, said Netanyahu was accompanied by Yossi Cohen, head of the country’s Mossad spy agency.

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Netanyahu holds secret meeting with Saudi crown prince

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Israeli PM flew to Saudi Arabia to meet Mohammed bin Salman and the US’s Mike Pompeo

Benjamin Netanyahu made an unannounced trip to Saudi Arabia over the weekend to meet the Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, and the US secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, according to an Israeli cabinet member.

The Sunday night visit would mark the first reported meeting between leaders of the long-time foes, one that Israel has been pushing for in its efforts for regional acceptance despite previously being considered a far-fetched ambition.

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UK MPs and lawyers request Saudi visit to check on missing princes

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Mohammed bin Nayef and Ahmed bin Abdulaziz have not been seen in public since March

A group of MPs and lawyers have asked to visit Saudi Arabia to discover the fate of two high-profile Saudi princes, the former crown prince Mohammed bin Nayef and Prince Ahmed bin Abdulaziz.

The panel has been set up to investigate and report on the detention of the princes as well as other key political figures detained in the region. The princes have reportedly been denied legal advice, medical care and contact with their family since they disappeared in March.

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Saudi expats launch opposition party on anniversary of Jamal Khashoggi’s death

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National Assembly party aims at creation of representative government in Saudi Arabia

A group of intellectual Saudi Arabian expatriates have launched an opposition party on the second anniversary of the murder of the Saudi dissident Jamal Khashoggi.

The aim of the National Assembly party is to gather the support of people inside and outside of Saudi Arabia for the formation of a representative government, which would be the first elected democratic institution inside the country since its birth 90 years ago.

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Saudi heir and Jared Kushner inch kingdom towards deal with Israel

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Saudi Arabia’s interventions could result in seismic shift in region’s geopolitics

As the UAE and Bahrain prepared to sign a deal to normalise diplomatic relations with Israel this summer, Saudi Arabia – the regional heavyweight – was quietly urging them on.

For several months before the deals were signed at the White House, the Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, had been laying out his rationale for a pact that would overturn regional policies towards a long-term foe.

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Saudi ex-spy suing crown prince faces fresh death threat in Canada – report

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Canada reportedly increases security around Saad Aljabri, who is suing Prince Mohammed bin Salman over alleged 2018 assassination attempt

A former senior Saudi intelligence official who has accused Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman of trying to have him assassinated in 2018 has been placed under heightened security after a new threat on his life, a Canadian newspaper has reported.

The Globe and Mail said Canadian security services had been informed of a new attempted attack on Saad Aljabri, who lives at an undisclosed location in the Toronto region.

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Exclusive: Saudi dissident warned by Canadian police he is a target

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Omar Abdulaziz, who was close to murdered journalist Jamal Khashoggi, told of threat posed by Saudi Arabia

A prominent Saudi dissident who is living in exile in Canada said he was recently warned by Canadian authorities that he was a “potential target” of Saudi Arabia and that he needed to take precautions to protect himself.

Omar Abdulaziz, a 29-year-old activist who had a close association with Jamal Khashoggi, the murdered Washington Post journalist, told the Guardian that he believed he was facing a threat to his safety and that the Canadians had credible information about a possible plan to harm him.

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Family fears grow for activists detained in notorious Saudi prison

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Reports of Covid-19 cases and allegations of withheld medical treatment have sparked concern for those held in al-Ha’ir prison

Relatives of prisoners held in a sprawling complex outside Riyadh say they fear prison conditions and denial of medical treatment are risking the lives of detainees including members of the Saudi royal family. 

Two sources close to the family of Princess Basmah bint Saud bin Abdulaziz al-Saud say the senior royal, known as an outspoken advocate for reform, is in a life-threatening condition inside al-Ha’ir prison south of Riyadh. Concerns grew following the death in a Riyadh hospital last month of prominent rights activist Abdullah al-Hamid, formerly held in al-Ha’ir.

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‘Sarah and Omar have disappeared’: children of ex-Saudi official missing since March

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Aljabri family tells of anguish over what they describe as act of vengeance by Prince Mohammed bin Salman

The family of a former senior Saudi intelligence official have told of their anguish over the disappearance of two of his adult children in Riyadh, in what has been described to the Guardian as an act of vengeance by the crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, to force the official’s return from exile.

The disappearance of Omar and Sarah Aljabri, son and daughter of Saad and Nadyah Aljabri, in March showed how Saudi’s de facto ruler had used the children of his perceived enemies against them, said Khalid Aljabri, the siblings’ older brother.

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‘The end of an era’: oil price collapse may force Saudis to rein in arms spending

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The world’s fifth largest weapons buyer is eating up its reserves - and its political clout

Saudi Arabia may be forced to forego new weapons contracts and delay already-agreed weapons purchases as a financial crisis grips the kingdom, experts predict.

The expected delay of new weapons deals could have long-term political repercussions for the country under the rule of Mohammed bin Salman, the crown prince and de facto ruler who has waged a bloody war with neighbouring Yemen.

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‘It’s being built on our blood’: the true cost of Saudi Arabia’s $500bn megacity

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With an artificial moon and flying taxis, Neom has been billed as humanity’s next chapter. But beneath the glitzy veneer lies a story of threats, forced eviction and bloodshed

“The future has a new home,” proclaims the website.

“It’s a virgin area that has a lot of beauty,” says the voice over a string section soundtrack as the promotional video tracks colour-tinted panoramic shots of picturesque desert expanses, and deep azure lagoons.

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Outspoken Saudi princess reveals that she is in prison

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Princess Basmah, a human rights advocate, demands that her uncle the king frees her

A senior Saudi royal and granddaughter of the country’s founding monarch has revealed she is being held in prison and demanded that the current ruler and her cousin, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, release her and provide medical care.

Princess Basmah bint Saud bin Abdulaziz al-Saud, an outspoken human rights advocate, claims she is being detained without charge in Riyadh with one of her daughters. She says neither have received explanations for their arrests, despite repeated pleas to the kingdom’s royal court, and to her uncle King Salman.

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Turkey charges 20 Saudis over Jamal Khashoggi murder

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Two allies of crown prince among suspects charged over killing of dissident journalist

Turkish prosecutors have formally charged 20 Saudi nationals over the murder of the dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi in the kingdom’s consulate in Istanbul in 2018, including two men close to the crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman.

The former royal court adviser Saud al-Qahtani and former deputy head of intelligence Ahmed al-Asiri were among the suspects charged with “instigating a premeditated murder with the intent of [causing] torment through fiendish instinct”, the office of the Istanbul chief prosecutor, Irfan Fidan, said on Wednesday. Assisted by three intelligence officers, a team of 15 men then travelled to Istanbul and carried out Qatani and Asiri’s orders, the statement said.

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Arrested Saudi royals allegedly aimed to block crown prince’s accession

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King’s brother and former crown prince accused of trying to sideline Mohammed bin Salman

The dramatic arrests of two leading Saudi royals followed discussions between the two men about using a procedural body, led by one of them, to block the accession to the throne of the crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, if the current monarch dies or becomes incapacitated.

Three sources have confirmed to the Guardian that the arrests of Prince Ahmed bin Abdul Aziz, the sole remaining full brother of King Salman, and the former crown prince, Mohammed bin Nayef, on Friday were ordered after details of alleged conversations were passed to the royal court.

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