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GOVERNANCE IN THE MUSLIM WORLD
WHAT IS REALLY HAPPENING IN THE KINGDOM AND IS MBS SECURING HIS FUTURE OR DIGGING HIS OWN GRAVE? THE SAUDI DYNASTY APPEARS TO BE IN AN ENDGAME SO WHAT IS THE FUTURE SUCCESSION SCENARIO WHEN THE CURRENT KING SALMAN EITHER DIES OR ABDICATES. THIS IS OF TREMENDOUS INTEREST TO THE ISLAMIC WORLD AS THE KINGDOM AND IT'S RULERS ARE THE CUSTODIANS OF THE HARAMAIN. THIS WILL BE URGENTLY REVIEWED HEREAFTER  




THE INSIDE STORY OF MOHAMMAD BIN SALMAN AND KING SALMAN AT THE ROYAL PALACE 

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SAUDI MEDIA HAS RELEASED NEW FOOTAGE OF KING SALMAN 



EXCLUSIVE NEWS BY DIRECTOR ABOUT MBS AFTER WASJ AND NYT STORY 



OIL PRICES GOES DOWN MORE THAN 30% AND TRADING BELOW  $30 BARREL



MBS IN DESPERATE PANIC TO GRAB THE THRONE!

Yusuf Dhia-Allah

https://crescent.icit-digital.org/articles/mbs-in-desperate-panic-to-grab-the-throne

Saudi crown prince Muhammad bin Salman (MbS) is desperate to become king even before the old man kicks the bucket. While he is the de facto ruler, that is not good enough for him. To become king, he needs approval of the Ba‘ya (Allegiance) Council that is not assured since Prince Ahmed bin Abd al Aziz, MbS’ uncle, is also a member of the Council and he has made no secret of his opposition to the crown prince. In an unprecedented move, MbS arrested Prince Ahmed together with a number of other ‘royals’ that were seen as not sufficiently loyal to him or potential rivals. MbS has made too many enemies and is likely to become victim of his own plots. He has pushed the kingdom to the edge of a precipice. 

Saudi crown prince Muhammad bin Salman (MbS) is like the monkey with a loaded gun: it will either blow its own brains out or those of others. His erratic policies and decisions are shaking the medieval kingdom to its core. Other members of the clan are worried that the ignorant brash prince will blow up everything bringing the kingdom built on sand upon them all.

With all the powers in his hands and being the sole decision-maker in the kingdom, it is surprising that MbS is still terrified of potential rivals. If stupidity had a name, it would be called Muhammad bin Salman (MbS). He is arrogant, impulsiveness and lacks any understanding of issues.

How does one explain the manner in which the crown prince arrested dozens of senior ‘royals’ last month? This was followed two weeks later by the arrest of nearly 300 security personnel. The detained princes—all much older than him—were accused of attempting to carry out a coup with the help of foreign powers. What ‘foreign powers’ was MbS referring to? Reports in the Saudi media left little doubt that the accusing finger was being pointed at the US, or more precisely the CIA.

The reason for MbS’ fear is that CIA had close links with Mohammad bin Nayef (MbN), the former crown prince, who was among those detained. The agency would have preferred him as the future king. MbN had for decades served under his father (Prince Nayef bin Abd al-Aziz) when he was the interior minister. The son cultivated close links with American and British intelligence agencies during that time. He was their man in the kingdom and carried out the West’s agenda with ruthless efficiency.

In the medieval kingdom, important portfolios are allocated among the sons of Abd al-Aziz ibn Saud, the kingdom’s founder: foreign ministry was the personal domain of the Bin Faisals, National Guard of Bin Abdullahs, defence portfolio of the Bin Sultans etc. All other ‘bins’ have since been knocked off their perches and the Bin Salmans have grabbed those positions or given to more trusted men, since Salman became the king in January 2015.

The Bin Salmans and MbS in particular, have also grabbed all other levers of powers. He was appointed defence minister in January 2015 and soon thereafter launched the disastrous war on Yemen. Two years later, he became the crown prince, knocking off MbN, his more experienced cousin and many years his senior. MbS also serves as head of economic policy as well as manages Aramco, the huge Saudi oil company. The kingdom’s internal security is also under his control. There is hardly any facet of life that he does not control.

MbS is in charge of the royal court and acts as his father’s personal secretary. Further, he makes all decisions in the name of the king who is believed to be suffering from dementia and perhaps may even be in a coma. He has not only sidelined other princes but also arrested and brutalized them. Take the latest wave of arrests based on allegations that they were plotting a coup. MbN was already under house arrest since November 2017. With all security personnel reporting directly to MbS, how could he organize a coup? Besides, all of MbN’s communications were and are closely monitored.

Thus, we must seek the reasons for MbS’ nervousness elsewhere. As long as Donald Trump is in the White House, he need not worry. But MbS’ dilemma is that he is not sure whether Trump will be in the Oval Office after the November presidential elections. The US economic meltdown following the coronavirus pandemic has further eroded Trump’s support. Whosoever wins the Democratic nomination—Joe Biden or Bernie Sanders, the latter’s chances fast receding—will have a good shot at the presidency. If the Democrats win, the Saudis will be in for some rough times.

The arrests, especially of his uncle Prince Ahmed bin Abd al-Aziz (78) and cousin Muhammad bin Nayef (58), have much to do with MbS’ nervousness. Unless he becomes king before the King dies, his chances of ascending the throne would be in jeopardy. Prince Ahmed, full-brother of the king and last of the Sudairi-7 (they are from the same mother, Hassa bint Sudairi), has made no secret of his dislike of MbS. He refused to pledge allegiance when MbS was appointed crown prince. As member of the [i]Bay‘a[/i] (Allegiance) Council, Prince Ahmed had actually opposed MbS becoming crown prince in June 2017 as well as spoken out against the disastrous war on Yemen.

Further, Prince Ahmed insists he is the rightful claimant to the throne after King Salman. He cites the [url=https://www.constituteproject.org/constitution/Saudi_Arabia_2005.pdf]Saudi ‘Constitution’ whose Chapter 2, Article 5, section b
states: “Rule passes to the sons of Abd al-Aziz ibn Saud, and to their children’s children. The most upright among them is to receive allegiance with the principles of the Holy Qur’an and the Tradition of the Venerable Prophet.”

So long as the sons of Abd al-Aziz ibn Saud are alive, MbS has no right to the throne. There are four sons of the kingdom’s founder still alive. Besides King Salman, there is the king’s full-brother Prince Ahmed, and half-brothers Prince Muqrin and Prince Talal (born to other wives of Abd al-Aziz ibn Saud who had 23 wives and sired 45 sons and 15 daughters). Abd al-Aziz went to the grave leaving behind a royal mess in the form of an army of children. The few remaining children are in their late seventies or eighties but they have not lost their appetite for intrigue even if they all have one leg in the grave.

At 78, Prince Ahmed is still quite robust, hence his desire to become king. He makes a strong case based on the Saudi constitution, whatever it’s worth, to be more deserving of becoming the king when Salman dies which could be quite soon given his age and health condition. Besides, MbS is far from being upright although among the Bani Saud there is hardly anyone—young or old—that would qualify on this score.

Then there is MbN, who managed the interior ministry under his father’s long spell, and the person MbS replaced as crown prince in June 2017. He is still seen as a potential rival. While under house arrest since he was stripped of all powers and his stipend withdrawn, MbN appears to enjoy continued support in the interior ministry and with the security establishment. MbS has appointed his own men in top slots but he is not sure of the support and loyalty of other ranks.

MbN’s close links with American and British intelligence agencies when he was running the interior ministry clearly worries MbS. He fears that the rug could be pulled from under his feet given the way he has messed up things. Both Prince Ahmed and MbN can also act as rallying points for other dissatisfied royals that view MbS’ erratic policies with alarm. They see the impulsive crown prince jeopardizing not only his own rule but that of the entire Bani Saud clan and the very survival of the kingdom.

Even more than the brutal murder of Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul on October 2, 2018, at the express orders of MbS, the disastrous war on Yemen is undermining his authority. He has tried to divert attention from it by organizing concerts and free mixing of men and women that would be unthinkable even a few years ago, but none of these gimmicks has helped.

There are rumors that MbS wants to become the king before the G20 summit in Riyadh in November 2020, regardless of whether his father is dead or alive. For all practical purposes the king is not in the picture. But once the king is actually dead, the other senior princes would not be as deferential. This adds to MbS’ nervousness.

Even if he declares himself king, there is no guarantee MbS would be able to control the situation, hence his desperate moves to eliminate all rivals, real or imagined, before the hour of reckoning. A bloodbath cannot be ruled out in the kingdom as other royals sharpen their daggers and swords. Once it ends, the Bani Saud may have decimated each other and the reins of power would be transferred to some other hands, equally subservient to imperialism and Zionism.


2020-04-01

SAUDI CRACKDOWN WIDENS AMID REPORTS OF FURTHER ARRESTS OF ROYALS 
No official comment by Saudi Arabia as reports say authorities broaden crackdown after detention of two senior royals.
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/03/s...58401.html

A roundup of royals and aides has widened in Saudi Arabia, according to several reports, in what is believed to be the latest crackdown by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS), the kingdom's de facto ruler, against potential challengers to his power.


On Saturday, a day after it was reported that two senior members of the royal family were detained over an alleged coup plot, US media outlets said Prince Nayef bin Ahmed, a former army head of intelligence, was also among those being held. Separately, the Wall Street Journal reported on Saturday that the sweep broadened to include dozens of interior ministry officials, senior army officers and others suspected of supporting a coup attempt. It came a day after the Journal cited sources familiar with the matter as saying that masked guards with the royal court on Friday arrested Prince Ahmed bin Abdulaziz, a younger brother of King Salman, and Prince Mohammed bin Nayef, the king's nephew and a former crown prince. The guards also detained a brother of Mohammed bin Nayef.


There has been no official comment from Saudi authorities on the arrests. "There are some kinds of rumours and innuendos that there's turmoil within the family in the form of criticism, but that doesn't justify being arrested as criminals, with masked security forces coming to their rooms and yanking them out of their private residences," Khalil Jahshan, executive director of the Arab Center in Washington, DC, told Al Jazeera. The detentions raised speculation about the health of 84-year-old King Salman and whether MBS's succession to the throne was imminent, but on Sunday the official Saudi Press Agency released images of King Salman presiding over the swearing-in ceremony of newly appointed Saudi ambassadors to Ukraine and Uruguay.

Consolidating reign
A son of King Salman, MBS has moved to consolidate power since replacing his cousin, Mohammed bin Nayef, as heir to the throne in 2017. Later that year, dozens of senior members of the royal family and billionaire businessmen were rounded up and detained at a luxury hotel in the capital, Riyadh, in what the Saudi government described as being part of an anti-corruption drive. Separately, rights groups have denounced the detention of hundreds of activists, including women's rights campaigners, amid growing criticism over the kingdom's human rights record, including the 2018 killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi by a team of Saudi agents and the devastating war in Yemen.  "He's not worried about people trying to make a coup," Rami Khouri, a journalism professor at the American University of Beirut, told of MBS. "He doesn't want any independent voices that don't agree with him," added Khouri, pointing to the reports saying that Prince Ahmed was one of only three people on the Allegiance Council, made up of the ruling Al Saud family's senior members, who opposed MBS becoming crown prince in 2017.



In late 2018, a video emerged of Prince Ahmed facing protesters outside his London residence and in which he seemed to criticise King Salman and MBS for the war in Yemen, described by the United Nations as the worst humanitarian crisis in the world. "Don't blame the entire family. Those responsible are the king and his crown prince," he said at the time. "In Yemen and elsewhere, our hope is that the war ends today before tomorrow."


Though Prince Ahmed quickly retracted his comments, insisting that his words were taken out of context, messages of support and pledges of allegiance began pouring in. The 78-year-old also issued a statement to deny speculation that he was interested in the role of the monarch and has largely kept a low profile since returning to Riyadh in October 2018 after two and a half months abroad.

'Not in a vacuum'
Both Prince Ahmed and Mohammed bin Nayef were seen as possible rivals for the throne when King Salman dies, with reports suggesting they now face long-term imprisonment or even death. Simon Mabon, a senior lecturer in international studies at Lancaster University, said even though the reasons behind the arrests were not clear, they did not happen "in a vacuum". "There have been a range of other things going on inside the kingdom, predominantly the long-standing efforts of the Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to seize power and to ensure that he has no form of internal or external dissent ," he told Al Jazeera. "What we saw with the killing of Jamal Khashoggi and this latest round of purges against his rule and against the legacy that he is trying to create for himself for the next 50 years or so as he becomes king."

Khouri said the idea of a coup being fomented was unlikely in light of the "immense, direct and brutal control" that MBS has over all of the kingdom's security agencies.  "It is a sign of the nervousness of the crown prince and the people around him who rule Saudi Arabia because they probably expect that the king will either abdicate or pass away soon," he added. "They expect there might be some kind of challenge to the succession."


SAUDI ARABIA DETAINS KING'S  BROTHER, NEPHEW IN CRACKDOWN:
 
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/03/s...07462.html

Saudi Arabia
has detained two senior members of the royal family - Prince Ahmed bin Abdulaziz, the younger brother of King Salman, and Mohammed bin Nayef, the king's nephew - according to reports citing sources with knowledge of the matter.

The Wall Street Journal reported the detentions of the two royals on Friday and said they related to an alleged coup attempt. The publication has since reported that the sweep widened to include dozens of interior ministry officials, senior army officers and others suspected of supporting a coup attempt. Bloomberg also reported the detention of the two high-profile royals on Friday, quoting a source as saying that the pair were accused of "treason". Mohammed bin Nayef's younger brother, Prince Nawaf bin Nayef, had also been detained, according to the New York Times. There was no immediate comment by Saudi authorities.

The detentions mark the latest crackdown by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, a son of 84-year-old King Salman and the de facto ruler of the kingdom. Prince Mohammed, also known as MBS, has moved to consolidate power since replacing his cousin, Mohammed bin Nayef, as heir to the throne in 2017. Later that year, he arrested dozens of royals and business people, in what was billed as a move against corruption that was draining state coffers. But the crown prince has fuelled resentment among some prominent branches of the ruling family by tightening his grip on power and some question his ability to lead following the 2018 murder of prominent journalist Jamal Khashoggi 
by Saudi agents, and a major attack on the kingdom's oil infrastructure last year, sources have told Reuters news agency. The sources said royals seeking to change the line of succession view Prince Ahmed, King Salman's only surviving full brother, as a possible choice who would have the support of family members, the security apparatus and some Western powers.

In late 2018, a video emerged of Prince Ahmed facing protesters outside his London residence and in which he seemed to criticise King Salman and his crown prince for the war in Yemen. "Don't blame the entire family ... Those responsible are the king and his crown prince" he said at the time. "In Yemen and elsewhere, our hope is that the war ends today before tomorrow." Though Prince Ahmed quickly retracted his comments, insisting that his words were taken out of context, messages of support and pledges of allegiance began pouring in.  The 78-year-old also issued a statement to deny speculation that he was interested in the role of monarch and has largely kept a low profile since returning to Riyadh in October 2018 after two and a half months abroad.  

He was one of only three people on the Allegiance Council, made up of the ruling Al Saud family's senior members, who opposed MBS becoming crown prince in June 2017, sources earlier said. Following his removal from office, meanwhile, Mohammed bin Nayef's movements have reportedly been restricted and monitored since then. Saudi insiders and Western diplomats say the family is unlikely to oppose MBS while the king remains alive, recognising that he 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. Al Jazeera's Jamal Elshayyal, commenting from Doha, said the detentions were of "huge" significance. "We are talking about two of the most senior members of the Saudi royal family," he said. "What's prompted it is very difficult to ascertain, needless to say, because Saudis have a closed culture in terms of transparency and no media freedom.  "But these are two figures who have been under house arrest. They haven't been able to move freely for a very long time. The idea that they were trying to hatch some sort of coup is very far-fetched and difficult to see when considering the restraints they were under."


'Sign of nervousness'
The latest detentions come at a time of heightened tension with regional rival Iran and as MBS implements ambitious social and economic reforms, including an initial public offering by oil giant Saudi Aramco on the domestic bourse last December.  Saudi Arabia is also the current chair for the Group of 20 (G20) major economies. MBS has been lauded at home for easing social restrictions in the kingdom and opening up the economy. But he has come under international criticism over a devastating war in Yemen, the murder of Khashoggi in the kingdom's Istanbul consulate and the detention of women's rights activists seen as part of a crackdown on dissent.  "Prince Mohammed is emboldened - he has already ousted any threats to his rise, and jailed or murdered critics of his regime without any repercussion," Becca Wasser, a policy analyst at the US-based RAND Corporation, said of the latest crackdown. "This is a further step to shore up his power and a message to anyone - including royals - not to cross him." Rami Khouri, a journalism professor at the American University of Beirut, echoed Wasser's sentiment, saying the idea of a coup being fomented was unlikely in light of the "immense, direct and brutal control" that the crown prince has over all of the kingdom's security agencies.  "It is a sign of the nervousness of the crown prince and the people around him who rule Saudi Arabia because they probably expect that the king will either abdicate or pass away soon. They expect there might be some kind of challenge to the succession," Khouri said. "The critical thing about this, I think, is that it is the final affirmative confirmation, the seal on Mohammed bin Salman taking over the mantle of the Arab autocrats that used to be held by people like Saddam Hussein, Muammar Gaddafi and Hafez al-Assad."
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GOVERNANCE IN THE MUSLIM WORLD - by moeenyaseen - 05-06-2007, 11:11 AM
RE: AUTHORITARIANISM AND DICTATORSHIP - by globalvision2000administrator - 03-08-2020, 03:51 PM

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