A Saudi 'Night of the Long Knives'? Prince Salman's crackdown

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The Living Force
A Saudi 'Night of the Long Knives'? Prince Salman's crackdown signals significant shifts in the kingdom
https://www.sott.net/article/366700-A-Saudi-Night-of-the-Long-Knives-Prince-Salmans-crackdown-signals-significant-shifts-in-the-kingdom

Saudi Arabian prince & several officials killed in helicopter crash near Yemen border
https://www.sott.net/article/366707-Saudi-Arabian-prince-several-officials-killed-in-helicopter-crash-near-Yemen-border

There's the feeling - this is only the beginning of a "Long Night" in the Saudi Palace?

Additional articles:

Saudi Crown Prince Going Paranoid for Fear of Life
http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13960809001671

Eleven Saudi Princes, Four Ministers Arrested as Crown Prince Unleashes Crackdown on Corruption
http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13960814000929

Gilded Cages: Billionaire bin Talal, 10 Other Princes Arrested in Saudi Arabia
https://sputniknews.com/middleeast/201711051058825826-sauidi-arabia-princes-corruption-committee/

Saudi Prince Mansour bin Muqrin killed in copter crash as destabilization increases
http://www.fort-russ.com/2017/11/breaking-saudi-prince-mansour-bin.html

Helicopter With Saudi Prince, Government Officials Crashes Near Yemen Border (Video)
https://sputniknews.com/middleeast/201711051058840250-saudi-prince-helicopter-crash/

Lebanese PM Resigns After Trip to Saudi Arabia
http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13960813001600

A former Lebanese minister revealed that Saad al-Hariri, the country's prime minister who resigned from his post during his Riyadh trip on Saturday, is under detention in Saudi Arabia.

Ex-Lebanese Minister: Saad Al-Hariri under Detention in S. Arabia
http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13960814001275

"I call on the Lebanese government to guarantee Saad Hariri's safe return to the country and I emphasize that he has been detained and he was interrogated after his friend (Khalid) al-Tuwaijri (Chief of the Royal Court of Saudi Arabia under King Abdullah) was arrested," Wiam Wahhab was quoted as saying by Bahrain's Arabic-language al-Wasat newspaper on Sunday.

The Saudi media reported that the country's security forces have detained a number of princes and former ministers and officials, including al-Tuwaijiri.

Al-Hariri resigned during a trip to Saudi Arabia in a surprise move that plunged the country into uncertainty amid heightened regional tensions.

In a televised address from Riyadh, al-Hariri launched a vicious tirade against Iran and the Lebanese Hezbollah group for what he claimed was their meddling in Arab affairs.

Al-Hariri was appointed prime minister in late 2016 and headed a 30-member national unity cabinet.

Al-Hariri’s resignation on Saturday was expected to sharply raise tensions in the country.

In his speech, he claimed he feared for his life and that the atmosphere in the country is similar to the one that existed before his father, the late prime minister Rafik al-Hariri, was assassinated in 2005.
 
Re: A Saudi 'Night of the Long Knives'? Prince Salman's crackdown signals significan

There was some discussion about this in today's Behind the Headlines: U.S. Republic Goes Bananas: Rats Fleeing the Sinking Ship as U.S. Democracy Unravels and in the chat room as well. That this recent crackdown in Saudi Arabia has to do with the changing of the guard in the Middle East. With Russia taking it's rightful place as a major player in the region, helping Syria fend off the Saudi/US/Israeli-backed terrorists, those in Saudi Arabia are realizing they better change their ways because the US is on a decline.
 
Re: A Saudi 'Night of the Long Knives'? Prince Salman's crackdown signals significan

Apparently another Saudi prince has been killed. It supposedly happened during a firefight as Saudi officials wanted to arrest him.
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-11-06/second-saudi-prince-confirmed-killed-during-crackdown
Second Saudi Prince Confirmed Killed During Crackdown


by Tyler Durden

Following the death of Prince Mansour bin-Muqrin in a helicopter crash near the Yemen border yesterday, the Saudi Royal Court has confirmed the death of Prince Abdul Aziz bin Fahd - killed during a firefight as authorities attempted to arrest him.



The death has been confirmed by the Saudi royal court.

The Duran and Al-Masdar News both report that the prince died when his security contingent got into a firefight with regime gunmen attempting to make an arrest.

Prince Aziz (44) who was the youngest son of King Fahad.

The Duran's Adam Garrie points out that Prince Abdul Aziz was deeply involved in Saudi Oger Ltd, a company which until it ceased operations in the summer of this year, was owned by the Hariri family. Former Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri was punitively in charge of the company until it ceased operations.

Prince Abdul Aziz’s strange and sudden death which is said to have occurred during an attempted arrest, sheds light on the theory that the clearly forced resignation of former Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri had more to do with internal Saudi affairs than the Saudi attempt to bring instability to Lebanon.

The Saudi Royal family has now lost two princes in 24 hours.
[...]
So there is here a connection between this prince who got killed when he and his guards resisted arrest and Saad Hariri who just resigned from Saudi Arabia.

From Wiki:
_https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdul_Aziz_bin_Fahd
Abdul Aziz born on 16 April 1973. His mother is Al Jawhara bint Ibrahim Al Ibrahim, belonging to the wealthy Al Ibrahim family.[1]
[...]
Prince Abdul Aziz was first appointed as minister of state without portfolio in May 1998.[3] Then, he was made head of the Office of the Council of Ministers in January 2000, when he was 28 years old.[4] It was reported that after King Fahd's death, he began to live in Switzerland and came to Saudi Arabia to participate in the meetings of the Council of Ministers.[5]

On 26 June 2011, he was relieved from his position as head of the court of Cabinet affairs by a royal decree.[6] It was declared that he resigned from his posts of minister of State and member of the Council of Ministers at his own request in June 2011.[7] However, he is still named as minister of the state and a cabinet member.[8]

His ties with Saudi Oger are well known in Saudi Arabia. The company was founded by Rafik Hariri, who built Saudi Oger into a large company with the assistance of King Fahd. Hariri said ‘The meat on my shoulder is from King Fahd,’ according to As'ad Abu Khalil, a professor of political science at California State University Stanislaus, who has written several books and runs the blog The Angry Arab News Service. Hariri, also a former prime minister of Lebanon, was assassinated in 2005. His son, Saad Hariri, took over Saudi Oger and became Lebanon’s prime minister for 14 months before he was ousted in 2011. Saad Hariri and Prince Abdul Aziz are known to be close.

According to wiki above, he also was worth a few billion dollars worth of assets, which could well be confiscated.

So now prince Abdul Azis is dead and Hariri is no longer prime minister. Things are heating up.
 
It will be interesting if some of those arrested/dead princes would be found as ones responsible for 9/11...
 
Yozilla said:
It will be interesting if some of those arrested/dead princes would be found as ones responsible for 9/11...

It's unlikely the Saudis are behind 9/11, that's just a smokescreen to cover up the true perpetrators: Secret Team aka Deep State aka Secret Government.
 
Re: A Saudi 'Night of the Long Knives'? Prince Salman's crackdown signals significan

Turgon said:
There was some discussion about this in today's Behind the Headlines: U.S. Republic Goes Bananas: Rats Fleeing the Sinking Ship as U.S. Democracy Unravels and in the chat room as well. That this recent crackdown in Saudi Arabia has to do with the changing of the guard in the Middle East. With Russia taking it's rightful place as a major player in the region, helping Syria fend off the Saudi/US/Israeli-backed terrorists, those in Saudi Arabia are realizing they better change their ways because the US is on a decline.

Yeah, the implications are wide and varied - here is a sample of what the oil markets were talking about:

Did Oil Markets Overreact To The Saudi Purge? By Nick Cunningham - Nov 06, 2017, 6:00 PM CST

Saudi Arabia’s powerful crown prince led a massive purge over the weekend, ousting around a dozen royal cousins in a bid to consolidate power.

The removal and detentions of so many members of the royal family were ostensibly the outgrowth of an anti-corruption campaign, but the actions put the top security institutions under the control of the king and the crown prince after having been distributed among different family factions for decades. In essence, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (aka, MBS) has ended decades of tradition and has consolidated power in his own hands, making him the most powerful figure the country has seen in generations.

MBS also removed one of his rivals for the throne, Prince Miteb bin Abdullah, son of the late King Abdullah. Many analysts expect the octogenarian King Salman to abdicate the throne in the coming months, and the ouster of Miteb paves the way for MBS to take over.

The purge also took down the richest Saudi investor, Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, a move that “would be like arresting Warren Buffet or Bill Gates in the United States,” Robert Jordan, former U.S. ambassador to the kingdom, told CNBC.

Favorable interpretations of what is playing out in Riyadh view the actions as a way to push forward with economic reforms. “The new leadership is committed to modernizing the economy and diversifying the economy and addressing the issue of over-reliance on oil,” Khatija Haque, head of Middle East research at Emirates NBD PJSC, told Bloomberg. “What this signals is that the crown prince is strengthening his position to continue with pushing forward with the reforms that are needed.”

But analysts say the actions by MBS could undercut one his own top priorities: Attracting international investment, specifically for the IPO of Saudi Aramco. The arrests without due process “sends a chill down the spine of foreign investors,” Bernard Haykel, a professor at Princeton University, told the New York Times in an interview. Moreover, a Saudi Aramco board member and former finance minister was actually included in the series of detentions.

Meanwhile, Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir said on Monday that the Saudi government has the right to respond to Iran’s “hostile actions,” after a missile was reportedly fired by Houthi rebels from Yemen. The missile was intercepted, but Saudi state press said the government “considers this a blatant act of military aggression by the Iranian regime, and could rise to be considered as an act of war against the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.”

And to make matters even more bizarre, a Saudi prince was killed in a helicopter crash near the border with Yemen on Sunday, a seemingly unrelated event with an unknown cause.

The sudden turmoil in Saudi Arabia likely helped push oil prices to their highest level in two and a half years on Monday, with Brent breaking $64 per barrel and WTI moving past $57 per barrel during intraday trading. However, the Saudi purge does not necessarily mean a change in oil policy. Saudi officials have been pushing for an extension of the OPEC cuts through the end of 2018, particularly as they prepare the IPO of Aramco. “We believe the kingdom will stick to the OPEC+ deal and continue to focus on reducing global oil inventories,” UBS oil analyst Giovanni Staunovo told Reuters.

At the same time, the political intrigue has introduced an element of geopolitical risk, which could be helping to add a bit of bullish momentum to oil prices. “Uncertainty about core regime stability has gone up a bit, so a higher risk premium is justified,” Samuel Ciszuk, a senior adviser to the Swedish Energy Agency, said at the Reuters Global Oil Forum.

With all of that said, there are more important factors governing the price of oil. The fate of the OPEC extension is first and foremost. After that, oil investors are keeping an eye on the response from U.S. shale to rising oil prices. The sharp decline in the rig count last week is probably more important in the eyes of some oil traders than the purge in Saudi Arabia.

The latest events come as oil prices had already been gaining strength. A recent Wall Street Journal poll of 14 investment banks finds an averaged predicted Brent price in 2018 at $54 per barrel, an increase of $1 per barrel since September and the first increase in six months for the poll.

By Nick Cunningham of Oilprice.com

You can see their minds (the oil guys) are on a few specific things, and it may be something completely different from what they are thinking in terms of geostrategic policies and deals, including the method of future payment i.e petrodollars vs other, and that is a bad day for the West if it is the other, yet even this is likely being hedged in political/intelligence backrooms. SA policy is said to "have been pushing for an extension of the OPEC cuts through the end of 2018," which is better for the Russian oil and is a change in what the former American policy/deals (under the Obama gang) were with the SA increasing production then; which hit the oil prices hard in a free fall attempt to financially impact Russia and others - all the while they (and the West) were facilitating their mercenary armies into Syria after looting Libya.

This is certainly going to be a roller-coaster ride that may have many outcomes - and the SA indeed needs to turn over a new leaf. What Israel will do; is doing, needs constant attention too, and they should be careful as they have been meddling alongside SA since the beginning of all this created chaos.

With Syria regaining their house in their region, with Syria connecting with Iran to close, and with Russia in the background (and Turkey in the middle), and China to the side, it is formidable. In front of them is Jordan and Israel (did Israel not just launch their 'Blue Flag' war games), and others, including to the side the SA who is currently unstable - so what will America do?
 
Beau said:
Yozilla said:
It will be interesting if some of those arrested/dead princes would be found as ones responsible for 9/11...

It's unlikely the Saudis are behind 9/11, that's just a smokescreen to cover up the true perpetrators: Secret Team aka Deep State aka Secret Government.

As I understood Yozilla's comment, then the dead/arrested Saudis could now serve as scapegoats regarding 9/11 and give the veneer of justice having being served, while the true perpetrators stay hidden. It is possible, as dead princes and officials don't talk and it could be a cheap way out, if ever there would arise a wish for another (whitewash) 9/11 investigation.
 
Aeneas said:
Beau said:
Yozilla said:
It will be interesting if some of those arrested/dead princes would be found as ones responsible for 9/11...

It's unlikely the Saudis are behind 9/11, that's just a smokescreen to cover up the true perpetrators: Secret Team aka Deep State aka Secret Government.

As I understood Yozilla's comment, then the dead/arrested Saudis could now serve as scapegoats regarding 9/11 and give the veneer of justice having being served, while the true perpetrators stay hidden. It is possible, as dead princes and officials don't talk and it could be a cheap way out, if ever there would arise a wish for another (whitewash) 9/11 investigation.

Yup, that was may insinuation, grazzie Aeneas :cool2:
 
Re: A Saudi 'Night of the Long Knives'? Prince Salman's crackdown signals significan

Turgon said:
There was some discussion about this in today's Behind the Headlines: U.S. Republic Goes Bananas: Rats Fleeing the Sinking Ship as U.S. Democracy Unravels and in the chat room as well. That this recent crackdown in Saudi Arabia has to do with the changing of the guard in the Middle East. With Russia taking it's rightful place as a major player in the region, helping Syria fend off the Saudi/US/Israeli-backed terrorists, those in Saudi Arabia are realizing they better change their ways because the US is on a decline.

How do we fit this scenario in with Prince Mohammed Bin Salman's confrontational stance towards Iran? Hariri went to Saudi Arabia, had a talk with him, and then resigned as PM of Lebanon, and in doing so blamed Iran and Hezbollah for everything - including threats on his life. It seems quite clear that MBS pulled his strings to do so. Netanyahu joined in the Iran bashing, obviously. And then SA and the US blamed the missile shot from Yemen to Riyad on Iran. So, if SA is trying to reacommodate into a friendlier position towards Russia and away from the US, and generally 'change its ways', why are they dissing Iran? I think what SA is really up to will become more clear in the near future when we see how it behaves in terms of foreign policy. They may be playing a double or triple game, for all we know.
 
Zerohedge says:

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-11-07/leaked-secret-israeli-cable-confirms-israeli-saudi-coordination-lebanon

"Explosive" Leaked Secret Israeli Cable Confirms Israeli-Saudi Coordination To Provoke War

Early this morning, Israeli Channel 10 news published a leaked diplomatic cable which had been sent to all Israeli ambassadors throughout the world concerning the chaotic events that unfolded over the weekend in Lebanon and Saudi Arabia, which began with Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri's unexpected resignation after he was summoned to Riyadh by his Saudi-backers, and led to the Saudis announcing that Lebanon had "declared war" against the kingdom.

The classified embassy cable, written in Hebrew, constitutes the first formal evidence proving that the Saudis and Israelis are deliberately coordinating to escalate the situation in the Middle East.

The explosive classified Israeli cable reveals the following:

On Sunday, just after Lebanese PM Hariri's shocking resignation, Israel sent a cable to all of its embassies with the request that its diplomats do everything possible to ramp up diplomatic pressure against Hezbollah and Iran.
The cable urged support for Saudi Arabia's war against Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen.
The cable stressed that Iran was engaged in "regional subversion".
Israeli diplomats were urged to appeal to the "highest officials" within their host countries to attempt to expel Hezbollah from Lebanese government and politics.

As is already well-known, the Saudi and Israeli common cause against perceived Iranian influence and expansion in places like Syria, Lebanon and Iraq of late has led the historic bitter enemies down a pragmatic path of unspoken cooperation as both seem to have placed the break up of the so-called "Shia crescent" as their primary policy goal in the region. For Israel, Hezbollah has long been its greatest foe, which Israeli leaders see as an extension of Iran's territorial presence right up against the Jewish state's northern border.

The Israeli reporter who obtained the document is Barak Ravid, senior diplomatic correspondent for Channel 10 News. Ravid announced the following through Twitter yesterday:

I published on channel 10 a cable sent to Israeli diplomats asking to lobby for Saudis/Harir and against Hezbollah. The cable sent from the MFA in Jerusalem [Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs] to all Israeli embassies toes the Saudi line regarding the Hariri resignation.
The Israeli diplomats were instructed to demarch their host governments over the domestic political situation in Lebanon - a very rare move.
The cable said: "You need to stress that the Hariri resignation shows how dangerous Iran and Hezbollah are for Lebanon's security."
"Hariri's resignation proves wrong the argument that Hezbollah participation in the government stabilizes Lebanon," the cable added.
The cable instructed Israeli diplomats to support Saudi Arabia over its war with the Houthis in Yemen. The cable also stressed: "The missile launch by the Houthis towards Riyadh calls for applying more pressure on Iran & Hezbollah."

Watch today's Hebrew broadcast Channel 10 News report which features the Israeli diplomatic cable - the text of which is featured in Channel 10's screenshot (below) - here.

Below is a rough translation of the classified Israeli embassy cable using Google Translate as released by Israel's Channel 10 News:

"To the Director-General: you are requested to urgently contact the Foreign Ministry and other relevant government officials [of your host country] and emphasize that the resignation of Al-Hariri and his comments on the reasons that led him to resign illustrate once again the destructive nature of Iran and Hezbollah and their danger to the stability of Lebanon and the countries of the region.



Al-Hariri's resignation proves that the international argument that Hezbollah's inclusion in the government is a recipe for stability is basically wrong. This artificial unity creates paralysis and the inability of local sovereign powers to make decisions that serve their national interest. It effectively turns them into hostages under physical threat and are forced to promote the interests of a foreign power - Iran - even if this may endanger the security of their country.



The events in Lebanon and the launching of a ballistic missile by the signatories to the Riyadh agreement require increased pressure on Iran and Hezbollah on a range of issues from the production of ballistic missiles to regional subversion."

Thus, as things increasingly heat up in the Middle East, it appears the anti-Iran and anti-Shia alliance of convenience between the Saudis and Israelis appears to have placed Lebanon in the cross hairs of yet another looming Israeli-Hezbollah war. And the war in Yemen will also continue to escalate - perhaps now with increasingly overt Israeli political support. According to Channel 10's commentary (translation), "In the cable, Israeli ambassadors were also asked to convey an unusual message of support for Saudi Arabia in light of the war in which it is involved in Yemen against the Iranian-backed rebels."

All of this this comes, perhaps not coincidentally, at the very moment ISIS is on the verge of complete annihilation (partly at the hands of Hezbollah), and as both Israel and Saudi Arabia have of late increasingly declared "red lines" concerning perceived Iranian influence across the region as well as broad Hezbollah acceptance and popularity within Lebanon.

What has both Israel and the Saudis worried is the fact that the Syrian war has strengthened Hezbollah, not weakened it. And now we have smoking gun internal evidence that Israel is quietly formalizing its unusual alliance with Saudi Arabia and its power-hungry and hawkish crown prince Mohammed bin Salman.
 
This is interesting: From _http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-11-07/leaked-secret-israeli-cable-confirms-israeli-saudi-coordination-lebanon

Israeli Channel 10 news published a leaked diplomatic cable which had been sent to all Israeli ambassadors throughout the world concerning the chaotic events that unfolded over the weekend in Lebanon and Saudi Arabia...

The classified embassy cable, written in Hebrew, constitutes the first formal evidence proving that the Saudis and Israelis are deliberately coordinating to escalate the situation in the Middle East.

Below is a rough translation of the classified Israeli embassy cable using Google Translate as released by Israel's Channel 10 News:

"To the Director-General: you are requested to urgently contact the Foreign Ministry and other relevant government officials [of your host country] and emphasize that the resignation of Al-Hariri and his comments on the reasons that led him to resign illustrate once again the destructive nature of Iran and Hezbollah and their danger to the stability of Lebanon and the countries of the region.

Al-Hariri's resignation proves that the international argument that Hezbollah's inclusion in the government is a recipe for stability is basically wrong. This artificial unity creates paralysis and the inability of local sovereign powers to make decisions that serve their national interest. It effectively turns them into hostages under physical threat and are forced to promote the interests of a foreign power - Iran - even if this may endanger the security of their country.

The events in Lebanon and the launching of a ballistic missile by the signatories to the Riyadh agreement require increased pressure on Iran and Hezbollah on a range of issues from the production of ballistic missiles to regional subversion."
 
Re: A Saudi 'Night of the Long Knives'? Prince Salman's crackdown signals significan

Turgon said:
There was some discussion about this in today's Behind the Headlines: U.S. Republic Goes Bananas: Rats Fleeing the Sinking Ship as U.S. Democracy Unravels and in the chat room as well. That this recent crackdown in Saudi Arabia has to do with the changing of the guard in the Middle East. With Russia taking it's rightful place as a major player in the region, helping Syria fend off the Saudi/US/Israeli-backed terrorists, those in Saudi Arabia are realizing they better change their ways because the US is on a decline.

And the Israelis are, of course, fit to be tied (as the saying goes). The removal of Hariri points directly to a desperate Israeli move (with the help of the Saudis). The Israelis have, of course, been meddling in Lebanon for decades, causing great harm in the process. It was the Mossad that murdered Hariri's father in 2005 (the apple fell far from the tree there) and then a year later the Israelis began, and lost, a war against Hezbollah.

Today Hezbollah forces are likely much stronger than in 2006, fresh from military experience fighting Western (and Israeli)-backed jihadis in Syria. Iranian and Syrian influence in Lebanon is growing stronger by the day, and with Russia in the 'hood' now to stay, it's not looking good for little 'ol Israel. But the Israelis should not be underestimated, they have nukes after all, and allegedly a 'samson option'.
 
Re: A Saudi 'Night of the Long Knives'? Prince Salman's crackdown signals significan

Windmill knight said:
How do we fit this scenario in with Prince Mohammed Bin Salman's confrontational stance towards Iran? Hariri went to Saudi Arabia, had a talk with him, and then resigned as PM of Lebanon, and in doing so blamed Iran and Hezbollah for everything - including threats on his life. It seems quite clear that MBS pulled his strings to do so. Netanyahu joined in the Iran bashing, obviously. And then SA and the US blamed the missile shot from Yemen to Riyad on Iran. So, if SA is trying to reacommodate into a friendlier position towards Russia and away from the US, and generally 'change its ways', why are they dissing Iran? I think what SA is really up to will become more clear in the near future when we see how it behaves in terms of foreign policy. They may be playing a double or triple game, for all we know.

They probably are, but for the Saudis, closer ties with Russia does not necessarily mean being friendly to Iran. Iran is their direct competitor. Saudis don't mind Russia being the new power broker in the ME, as long as the Saudis are not replaced by Iran. Lots of infighting and sabre-rattling expected in the near future, short (I hope) of all out war. Don't let the saber rattling fool you into thinking any of them actually intend to make good on their threats. About 90% of 'wars' are fought via threats, counter-threats, apparent brinkmanship and intimidation (and also lots of behind the scenes diplomacy, appealing to 'higher powers' etc). Just ask the USA.
 
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