Saudi-king Archives

Report: Saudi King’s Son Plotted Effort to Oust His Rival

July 19, 2017 by administrator

By BEN HUBBARD, MARK MAZZETTI and ERIC SCHMITT

AMMAN, Jordan — As next in line to be king of Saudi Arabia, Mohammed bin Nayef was unaccustomed to being told what to do. Then, one night in June, he was summoned to a palace in Mecca, held against his will and pressured for hours to give up his claim to the throne.

By dawn, he had given in, and Saudi Arabia woke to the news that it had a new crown prince: the king’s 31-year-old son, Mohammed bin Salman.

The young prince’s supporters have lauded his elevation as the seamless empowerment of an ambitious leader. But since he was promoted on June 21, indications have emerged that Mohammed bin Salman plotted the ouster and that the transition was rockier than has been publicly portrayed, according to current and former United States officials and associates of the royal family.

To strengthen support for the sudden change in the line of succession, some senior princes were told that Mohammed bin Nayef was unfit to be king because of a drug problem, according to an associate of the royal family.

The decision to oust Mohammed bin Nayef and some of his closest colleagues has spread concern among counterterrorism officials in the United States who saw their most trusted Saudi contacts disappear and have struggled to build new relationships.

Read More: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/18/world/middleeast/saudi-arabia-mohammed-bin-nayef-mohammed-bin-salman.html?emc=edit_ta_20170719&nl=top-stories&nlid=49769097&ref=headline

France: Anger as Saudi king takes over entire French beach

July 19, 2015 by administrator

By Vincent Morvan,

Vallauris (France) (AFP) – Beach lovers on the French Riviera expressed their anger Sunday over the imminent arrival of the Saudi royal family, who have ordered a long stretch of beach to be closed off to the public.

“Looking after their security is fine, but they should at least let us go for a swim,” said Mohamed, a disgruntled fishing enthusiast.

Nestled in the rocks between the coastal railway and the translucent waters of the Mediterranean, the grounds of the royal family’s immense villa stretches across a kilometre of Riviera coastline between Antibes and Marseille.

Local authorities confirmed that King Salman is due to arrive at some point this week, and that access to the entire kilometre stretch will be cut off, including the public beach at Vallauris, which can only be reached through a tunnel under the railway line.

“Access to the coast will be prohibited by police officers for the duration of the king’s holiday,” said local official Philippe Castanet.

Coastguards will also stop anyone coming within 300 metres of the villa by sea.

Beach users swung between disappointment and anger over the news.

“They take the decision and there’s nothing we can say,” said Mohamed, rinsing off his fishing rod on the beachfront.

“It’s a good fishing spot and blocking access is not acceptable.”

– Beach-to-villa elevator –

Fatima, a local nurse, had come with her two daughters for a swim.

“Whether it’s him or another billionaire, they always have priority over ordinary people. On the other hand, they are good for business, coming here with 400 people in their entourage. I heard they might even fix the roads.”

Her boyfriend Didier recalls a time when Salman’s predecessor King Fahd was visiting and the police had to forcibly remove swimmers who refused to clear out.

Workers hired by the Saudis had last week already started building the fence that will close off access to the beach, but were ordered to stop until the royal family arrives.

They had also generated a great deal of anger by starting work on an elevator from the beach to the villa, which involved pouring a huge slab of cement directly on to the sand.

The local authorities have allowed work on the elevator to continue on condition that it is dismantled when the family vacation ends.

The villa itself has become a hive of activity, with one local, Christian, saying there were dozens of people decking it out with rose bushes and other plants over the weekend.

“You can see they’ve replaced the balcony windows, no doubt to put in some bullet-proof glass,” he said.

He also pointed out what appeared to be a golden throne, positioned to soak up the sun — and a view unspoiled by the general public — on the villa’s terrace.

Source: Yahoo.com

New Saudi king announces major government shake-up

January 30, 2015 by administrator

By Ian Timberlake

Riyadh (AFP) – Saudi Arabia’s new King Salman further cemented his hold on power, with a sweeping shakeup that saw two sons of the late King Abdullah fired, and the heads of intelligence and other key agencies replaced alongside a cabinet shuffle.

Top officials from the Ports Authority, the National Anti-Corruption Commission and the conservative Islamic kingdom’s religious police were among those let go.

The new appointments came a week after Salman acceded to the throne following the death of Abdullah, aged about 90.

Salman also reached out directly to his subjects on Thursday. One of his more than 30 decrees ordered “two months’ basic salary to all Saudi government civil and military employees,” the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) said.

Students and pensioners got similar bonuses.

“Dear people: You deserve more and whatever I do will not be able to give you what you deserve,” the king said later on his official Twitter account.

He asked his citizens to “not forget me in your prayers”.

General Khalid bin Ali bin Abdullah al-Humaidan became the new intelligence chief, holding cabinet rank.

The change comes after authorities in the kingdom last year blamed suspects linked to the Islamic State extremist group for shooting and wounding a Dane, and for gunning down minority Shiites.

A separate decree said Prince Bandar bin Sultan, a nephew of Abdullah, was removed from his posts as Secretary General of the National Security Council and adviser to the king.

Prince Bandar was the kingdom’s ambassador to the United States for 22 years until 2005 before moving to Saudi Arabia’s Security Council.

Two sons of the late monarch were also fired: Prince Mishaal, governor of the Mecca region, and Prince Turki, who governed the capital Riyadh, according to the decrees broadcast on Saudi television.

– Super-ministry –

Another of Abdullah’s sons, Prince Miteb, retained his position as minister in charge of the National Guard, a parallel army of around 200,000 men.

Salman, 79, a half-brother of Abdullah, named a 31-member cabinet whose new faces include the ministers for culture and information, social affairs, civil service, and communications and information technology, among others.

Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi, Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal, and Finance Minister Ibrahim al-Assaf stayed in the cabinet of the world’s leading oil exporter.

A 50 percent fall in global oil prices since last June has left Saudi Arabia projecting its first budget deficit since 2011, but government spending is set to continue.

Salman merged the ministries of higher education and education, naming Azzam bin Mohammed al-Dakheel to head the super-ministry.

Saudi Arabia is trying to improve its basic education system and has built more universities as it seeks to diversify its oil-dependent economy.

Another decree replaced the chief of the country’s stock market regulator, ahead of a mid-year target for opening the Arab world’s largest bourse to foreign investors.

Hours after Abdullah died on January 23 Salman appointed his son, Prince Mohammed bin Salman, as defence minister.

Powerful Interior Minister Prince Mohammed bin Nayef became second in line to the throne, while Deputy Crown Prince Moqren, 69, was elevated to king-in-waiting.

Moqren would reign as the last son of the kingdom’s founder, Abdul Aziz bin Saud, leaving bin Nayef as the first of the “second generation,” or grandsons of Abdul Aziz.

In March 2014, King Abdullah named Moqren to the new position of deputy crown prince with the aim of smoothing succession hurdles.

The appointment of Prince Mohammed bin Nayef helps to solidify control by the new king’s Sudayri branch of the royal family.

Their influence had waned under King Abdullah.

Regional heavyweight Saudi Arabia is the birthplace of Islam and home to the holy cities of Mecca and Medina.

Along with other countries in the Gulf, Saudi Arabia has joined a US-led air campaign against the Islamic State group that has seized parts of Syria and neighbouring Iraq.

Turkey HDP’s Demirtaş chastises gov’t over day of mourning for Saudi king

January 25, 2015 by administrator

He had 30 wives, 60 children and $20 million of wealth,

KONYA / ŞANLIURFA

Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) co-leader Selahattin Demirtaş has lamented the declaration of national mourning for Saudi Arabian King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz, arguing the presence of holy sites in the Saudi territories does not automatically make the king a divine figure.

“Today, they declared national mourning. Of course, we have holy sites in the Saudi territories. Of course, we have our Prophet’s entrusts, which are of course assets of the Islamic world. However, is the Saudi king, the one who lives in the golden palace, holy too because of being on the holy land?” Demirtaş said on Jan. 24, referring to Saudi Arabia being the birthplace of Islam and is home to the Muslim holy cities of Mecca and Medina.

As of Jan. 23, the Turkish government announced that it declared Jan. 24 a day of national mourning for bin Abdulaziz, who passed away early Jan. 23 at the age of 90.

“We declare Saturday, Jan. 24, a day of national mourning for bin Abdulaziz,” the Turkish Prime Ministry said in a written statement, shortly after bin Abdulaziz passed away.

The national flag was to be flown at half-mast across Turkey and at foreign delegations on Jan. 24, accordingly. President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, meanwhile, delayed a planned trip to Somalia to attend bin Abdulaziz’s funeral.

While speaking at a HDP provincial congress, Demirtaş argued bin Adbulaziz did not live according to the rules of Islam.

“He had 30 wives, 60 children and $20 million of wealth,” Demirtaş said. “God forgive him for his sins. Are we supposed to hold national mourning for him? No offense, we are not mourning. It is not our mourning. The king may be your king, but we do not recognize any kings. This country has 12 million subcontracted workers; the cost of your king’s dinner for one day is the salary that 1,000 subcontracted workers receive in total in a month,” he added.

In a message posted to his Twitter account, Demirtaş said: “Don’t lean on the king; you will fall.”

Delivering a speech at another HDP provincial congress, this time in Şanlıurfa, Demirtaş said on Jan. 25 that the government has been imposing discriminative policies based on people’s identities.

He suggested that they used women being victimized for wearing headscarves as a tool for scoring in domestic policy and used those people to “climb to the top.”

Anwar Muslim, head of the Kobane canton in Syria, also joined the congress in Şanlıurfa and delivered remarks through a teleconference.

January/25/2015