(TCh) Saudi Arabia’s King Salmann, (not to be confused with polyethnic cajun slamgrass legends Leftover Salmon) has replaced his nephew with his son, Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz, as crown prince.
There are many ways to look at this run-on sentence. King Salmann is 81 years old and he looks every bit of it. He made this move for a reason.
Possible motives:
- He likes his son more than his nephew?
- He doesn’t like his nephew?
- He doesn’t trust his nephew?
Let’s take a look at the new, crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz:
According to Wikipedia:
- On 24 September 2015, 2236 Hajj pilgrims were killed. Sources claim this was due to attempts by the personal convoy of Mohammed bin Salman to force itself through the crowd, as well as several road closures in the area. In the beginning of 2016, Prince Mohammad bin Salman inflamed tensions with Iran approving the execution of popular Shia Cleric Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr. Iran’s Shia population replied by setting fire to the Saudi Arabia embassy in Tehran. Since then, the two countries have cut off diplomatic ties. This execution came together with the execution of 46 people, mostly Sunni jihadis or dissenters.
- Mohammed bin Salman has a lavish lifestyle. One incident which illustrates this is his spur of the moment purchase of the yacht Serene from Russian vodka tycoon Yuri Scheffler for a price of €500 million reported by New York Times magazine.
- Mohammad has travelled extensively around the world, meeting with politicians, business leaders and celebrities. In June 2016, he met with Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg.
To Review: The Prince might have started the Mina stampede, spends money, travels and hobnobs with the rich & famous. Sounds just like Justin Bieber or any other Saudi prince.
To this news sniffer, things don’t smell right.
Let’s take a look at the artist formerly known as the crown prince, Mohammed bin Nayef Al Saud.
The Big Wik(ipedia) tells us:
- Muhammad bin Nayef, unlike most of the royal family, actively talks to the media. Concerning the struggle against terrorism, he adopts a policy of the iron fist like his father, Prince Nayef. He, and other decision-making elites, believe terrorism must be treated as a form of crime and fought with ruthless policing methods.
- Muhammad bin Nayef was commended by Western intelligence agencies for Saudi Arabia’s counterterrorism programs. He called for a “security channel” with the United States to facilitate information exchange. He firmly supported U.S. President Barack Obama in his opposition to the release of detainee interrogation photographs. He thought that Yemen was a “dangerous failed state” and becoming a serious threat to Saudi Arabia. He further believed that Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh was losing control. He suggested a strategy of directly working with Yemeni tribes, condemning terrorism.
- He praised General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani as a “good man”. He voiced his concerns concerning Iran’s nuclear program. He defers foreign policy issues to the King. After his appointment as interior minister, U.S. diplomats argued that he is “the most pro-American minister in the Saudi Cabinet”.
Oh, now I get it: the former crown prince was in the pocket of Western intelligence agencies.
The new prince?
Not so much.
