Corruption charges: Dozens of Saudi princes, ministers arrested

RIYADH: Saudi Arabia has arrested dozens of senior figures including princes, ministers and a top business tycoon, with authorities on Sunday pledging "fair" justice after a sweeping purge seen as consolidating the crown prince’s hold on power. Prominent billionaire Al-Waleed bin Talal was among the princes arrested late Saturday, a government source told AFP, immediately after a new anti-corruption commission headed by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman was established by royal decree. Media reports said the crackdown was launched on the order of Mohammed bin Salman.

Separately, the head of the Saudi National Guard, once a leading contender to the throne, as well as the navy chief and the economy minister were replaced in a series of high-profile sackings that sent shockwaves through the kingdom. 

The Saudi government said that bank accounts of the high-profile figures arrested in an anti-corruption sweep will be frozen. "The accounts and balances of those detained will be revealed and frozen. Any asset or property related to these cases of corruption will be registered as state property," the kingdom’s information ministry said.

“Laws will be applied firmly on everyone who touched public money and didn’t protect it or embezzled it, or abused their power and influence,” King Salman bin Abdul Aziz said in comments shown on state TV. “This will be applied on those big and small, and we will fear no one.”

The dramatic shake-up comes at a time of unprecedented social and economic transformation in Saudi Arabia, as Prince Mohammed steps up his reform drive for a post-oil era. Saudi-owned Al Arabiya television reported that 11 princes, four current ministers and 38 ex-ministers were arrested as the commission launched a probe into old cases such as floods that devastated the Red Sea city of Jeddah in 2009. The government official gave AFP a list of 14 of the most high-profile names including Prince Al-Waleed. "The suspects are being granted the same rights and treatment as any other Saudi citizen," attorney general Sheikh Saud al-Mojeb said in a statement, adding that a number of investigations had been initiated. 

"A suspect’s position or status does not influence the firm and fair application of justice." Shares in Kingdom Holding, 95 percent of which is ownedby Prince Al-Waleed, dived 9.9 percent as the Saudi stock exchange opened on Sunday after reports of his arrest. The share price later recovered some of its losses to end the day down 7.6 percent. The prince’s office was not reachable for comment. 

"With this (crackdown), the kingdom heralds a new era and policy of transparency, clarity and accountability," Saudi Finance Minister Mohammed al-Jadaan was quoted as saying by SPA. "The decisive decisions will preserve the investment environment and boost trust in the rule of law."

The kingdom’s top council of Ulema also lauded the anti-corruption efforts as "important", essentially giving religious backing to the crackdown. An aviation source told AFP that security forces had grounded private jets at airports, possibly to prevent high-profile figures from leaving the country. "The breadth and scale of the arrests appears to be unprecedented in modern Saudi history," said Kristian Ulrichsen, a fellow at the Baker Institute for Public Policy at Rice University. "The reported detention of Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal, if true, would send shockwaves through the domestic and international business community," Ulrichsen told AFP.

The purge comes less than two weeks after Prince Mohammed welcomed thousands of global business leaders to Riyadh for an investment summit, showcasing his reform drive that has shaken up the kingdom. It follows a wave of arrests of influential clerics and activists in September as the 32-year-old prince, often known as MBS, cements his grip on power. Analysts said many of those detained were resistant to Prince Mohammed’s aggressive foreign policy that includes the boycott of Gulf neighbour Qatar as well as some of his bold policy reforms, including privatising state assets and cutting subsidies.

The latest purge saw Prince Miteb bin Abdullah sacked as the head of the National Guard, an elite internal security force. His removal consolidates the crown prince’s control of the kingdom’s security institutions. To analysts, Prince Mohammed’s meteoric rise has seemed almost Shakespearean in its aggression and calculation. In June, he edged out a 58-year-old cousin, Prince Mohammed bin Nayef, to become heir to the throne. At the time, Saudi television channels showed Prince Mohammed kissing the hand of the older prince and kneeling before him in a show of reverence. Western media reports later said that the deposed prince had been placed under house arrest, a claim strongly denied by Saudi authorities.

Already viewed as the de facto ruler controlling all the major levers of government, from defence to the economy, the prince is widely seen to be stamping out traces of internal dissent before a formal transfer of power from his 81-year-old father King Salman. At the same time, he has projected himself as a liberal reformer with a series of bold moves including the decision allowing women to drive from next June.

Foreign diplomats predict that Prince Mohammed, set to be the first millennial to occupy the Saudi throne, could well be in control of Saudi Arabia for at least half a century. 

Meanwhile, a Saudi prince was killed on Sunday when a helicopter crashed near the kingdom’s southern border with war-torn Yemen, state television said.

The news channel Al-Ekhbariya announced the death of Prince Mansour bin Moqren, the deputy governor of Asir province. It said the helicopter had several officials on board, and did not reveal the cause of the crash.

The crash comes after Saudi Arabia on Saturday intercepted and destroyed a ballistic missile near Riyadh’s international airport after it was fired from Yemen, in an escalation of the kingdom’s war against Huthi rebels. The missile attack was the first aimed by the rebels at the heart of the Saudi capital, underscoring the growing threat posed by the raging conflict in Yemen.

The attack highlighted how the war in Yemen is increasingly spilling across the border since a Saudi-led coalition began its military intervention there in 2015. Saudi Arabia led the intervention to prop up the government of President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi after the Huthis forced him into exile.