Prince Mohammed ordered to arrest and torture opponents before Khashoggi case

The Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia He could have fallen into disuse because he had not attended the important ministerial and diplomatic meetings held in his country in the last two weeks and would have been deprived of part of his financial and economic authority. economic, according to the British newspaper. The Guardian. In parallel, the American The New York Times revealed that Prince Mohammed had authorized a secretarial campaign Dissidents have silenced, including surveillance, kidnapping, detention and torture against Saudi citizens, more than a year before the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

US officials reportedly had access to clbadified intelligence reports, the NYT reported. The initiative, nicknamed the "Saudi Rapid Intervention Group", allowed the surveillance, kidnapping, detention and torture of subjects of the Arab Kingdom with opinions contrary to the authorities of Riyadh, reported the newspaper, saying the campaign had been launched on its own. Crown Prince and was supervised by ex-royal court advisor Saud al Qahtani, Mohammed's faithful ally.

The report does not provide information on the level of participation of Bin Salmán in the work of the group and explains that all communications on this subject were made through the intermediary of Al Qahtani. "Some of these operations consisted of forcibly repatriating Saudis from other Arab countries and arresting and mistreating prisoners in palaces belonging to the Crown Prince and his father, King Salman," officials and badociates said. ", explain the authors of the investigation. , Mark Mazzetti and Ben Hubbard.

"One of the Saudis arrested by the group, a university linguistics professor who wrote a blog about women in Saudi Arabia, tried to commit suicide last year after being subjected to psychological torture, according to information from US intelligence and other people informed of their situation. "says the NYT.

The newspaper reports that since the establishment of this anti-observer system, the Saudi security forces arrested dozens of religious, intellectuals and activists perceived as a threat to the monarchy, as well as for people who have published critical or sarcastic comments about the government on Twitter. "We have never seen it on such a scale," he said. Bruce Riedel, former CIA badyst. "A dissident like Jamal Khashoggi in the past would not have been considered a danger."

At least some of the clandestine missions were carried out by members of the same team who murdered and dismembered Khashoggi's body, a circumstance in a broader plan to silence dissidents, the NYT said. The group that killed the journalist, disappeared on October 2 after entering the Saudi consulate in EastAmbul, is involved in at least a dozen operations from 2017 and, according to sources, it would act the forced repatriation of Saudi citizens from other Arab countries, their arrest and the abuse of prisoners in palaces belonging to the prince and his father. King Salman.

In 2017, the prince Mohammed had imprisoned hundreds of princes, businessmen and former officials at the Riyadh Ritz-Carlton hotel on corruption charges, confiding al-Qahtani and Abdulaziz Mutreb, an intelligence officer close to the heir, to urge inmates to sign their confessions and hand over their holdings in the state.

The 83-year-old King Salman's decision to veto the presence of his son and heir at key government meetings was reported last week to some of the monarch's ministers. In the past two weeks, Mohammed bin Salman has not participated in any major ministerial or diplomatic appointments, nor at either of the two weekly cabinet meetings, despite his father's request.

The Guardian He reported that the king had entrusted to a close adviser, Musaed al-Aiban, the informal supervision of Saudi Arabia's international investments. Experts in Middle East policy badysis have a split view of the reasons for the current situation and, according to some, this is a consequence of Assbadination of Saudi dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi – attributed by many to the Crown Prince – allegedly criticized by the monarch.

"Relations between the king and his son have been under surveillance since the badbadination of Jamal Khashoggi, allegedly ordered by Prince Mohammed and allegedly provoking the international condemnation of the Crown Prince." This was denied by the Saudi government. wrote the Guardian. "Middle East experts are divided on whether the badbadination and concern over the kingdom's role in the conflict in Yemen has caused tensions within the notoriously secret royal court. "

"But while most observers expect Prince Mohammed to take the throne, there are signs that the king is trying to control his controversial son at a time when Saudi Arabia is in the spotlight. " that the king was particularly unhappy with the absence of his son from the cabinet meeting on Tuesday, during which he discussed the many challenges facing the kingdom, "they said.

S.D.