A new period in the Middle East It is said that Nature abhors a vacuum. The defeat of the « Islamic Emirate in Iraq and Syria » (or « Daesh », according to its Arab acronym) – which, in quick succession, has just lost Mosul, under the onslaught of the Iraqi army, Rakka, taken by…
Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman personally bribed Donald Trump with $1bn during the US president’s visit to Riyadh in May, an anonymous Saudi commentator, who uses the Twitter handle Mujtahidd, has claimed. Bin Salman, then-deputy crown prince, was able to win the US administration’s favour in his power struggle with his cousin Mohammed…
The decision by Saudi King Salman bin Abdul-Aziz Al Saud to sack Minister of National Guard Prince Mutaib bin Abdullah, the favorite son of the late King Abdullah, is intended to remove a potential powerful rival of his own favorite son, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. Mutaib’s ouster is the most crucial part of a large-scale…
The House of Saud’s King Salman devises an high-powered “anti-corruption” commission and appoints his son, Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Salman, a.k.a. MBS, as chairman. Right on cue, the commission detains 11 House of Saud princes, four current ministers and dozens of former princes/cabinet secretaries – all charged with corruption. Hefty bank accounts are frozen, private…
Saturday night was a busy one for Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. The kingdom’s 32-year old heir to the throne excelled himself. He surpassed the high levels of chaos and human misery he had already achieved as the defence minister who launched the air campaign on Yemen. First up was the sudden resignation…
Yesterday the ruling Salman clan in Saudi Arabia executed a Night of the Long Knives cleansing the state of all potential competition. The Saudi King Salman and his son Clown Prince Mohammad bin Salman initiated a large arrest wave and purge of high ranking princes and officials. Part of this internal coup was the confiscation…
