Saudi king’s son pushing superiors out of political scene: Reports

A visit to the US by Saudi Arabia’s young deputy crown prince has raised speculation that his superiors are seriously ill and are being pushed out of the kingdom’s political scene.

Bruce Riedel, an ex-national intelligence officer and a member of US President Barack Obama’s transition team, told NBC News on Friday that Mohammed bin Salman, the third in line to the throne, is visiting the US as his father, King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, and Crown Prince Muhammad bin Nayef suffer from ill health.

“We’ve put a lot of markers down on Mohammed bin Nayef. It’s the smart move to do the same with bin Salman. It’s an opportunity to get to know him,” Riedel said.

Bin Salman, who also serves as the Saudi defense minister, is currently on a visit to the US aimed at restoring ties with Washington and promoting plans to overhaul the country’s oil-dependent economy.

He has met with US President Barack Obama and Defense Secretary Ashton Carter during the lengthy visit that started on June 13. He is also expected to hold a meeting with UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon next week.

Meanwhile, Simon Henderson of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy also told AFP that bin Salman is “notionally number three in the hierarchy, but effectively he’s number one because the old king prefers his son to take over the monarchy.

An informed Saudi source also told Middle East Eye on Saturday that Salman’s trip to the US was “designed to make him US’s number one Saudi ally and to push [bin Nayef] out of the scene.”

Bin Nayef, bin Salman’s cousin, is a US ally who has increasingly kept a low profile.

Furthermore, an unidentified Bahraini source said that bin Salman’s trip to the US was likely part of a long-term plan to bolster the young prince’s international reputation.

Bin Salman has been granted increasing power since he was named the third in line to the throne last April. He is heading up the country’s economic reforms, policy towards Syria and deadly aggression against Yemen.

However, the young prince’s meteoric rise seems to have sparked tensions within the Saudi royal family.

On Saturday, Ahmed Tuwaijari, a former member of the kingdom’s consultative assembly and a confidant of King Salman, was recorded as saying that the position of deputy crown prince, which was created by former Saudi Arabian King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud in 2014, violates the Saudi law.

There are two ways to create a ruling body in the country, a real way which is “managed well and results in the real expression of society” and a fake way “which does not represent reality and tries to justify everything for the ruler and whoever is with him,” Tuwaijari said.

With much of its wealth dependent on oil revenues, Saudi Arabia has been hardly hit by plunging oil prices, from $114 in June 2014 to currently some $49 a barrel of benchmark Brent crude.

Oil prices have fallen around 70 percent since mid-2014 due to oversupply, low demand and slowing economies.

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