Saudis arrest 2 princes for allegedly plotting coup – By Fox Business Newsroom (FOX Business) / March 6 2020
Prince Ahmed bin Abdulaziz al Saud, a brother of Saudi King Salman, and Prince Mohammed bin Nayef bin Abdulaziz al Saud were both accused of treason.
Saudi Arabian authorities detained two of the kingdom’s most prominent figures, further consolidating the power of the king’s son, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, and clearing away once-formidable rivals to the throne, according to people familiar with the matter.
The detentions occurred early Friday morning when guards from the royal court wearing masks and dressed in black arrived at the homes of the two men, took them into custody and searched their homes, according to people familiar with the matter.
Prince Ahmed bin Abdulaziz al Saud, a brother of Saudi King Salman, and Prince Mohammed bin Nayef bin Abdulaziz al Saud, the king’s nephew known as MBN, were both accused of treason, the people said. The guards also arrested one of MBN’s brothers.
The two men who had once been in line for the throne are now under threat of lifetime imprisonment or execution, said people familiar with the situation. The details of their alleged crime couldn’t be learned.
Prince Ahmed and MBN spent time as minister of the interior, a powerful position with oversight of troops and Saudi Arabia’s large intelligence service. But over the past few years, their standing in the royal family has diminished as King Salman consolidated power and installed his son Mohammed bin Salman — known as MBS — as crown prince and the kingdom’s day-to-day ruler.
The arrests cast aside two men who could have been rivals to MBS’s claim to the throne if 84-year-old King Salman died or decided to abdicate. MBN had been first in line for the throne as Salman’s crown prince until 2017, when MBS was elevated over him.
Continue to article: https://www.foxbusiness.com/markets/saudis-arrest-2-princes-for-allegedly-plotting-coup
