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‘Muhammad bin Salman causing one disaster after another since in power’

Thursday, 22 November 2018 9:14 AM [ Last Update: Thursday, 22 November 2018 10:17 AM ]

A handout picture provided by the Saudi Royal Palace on November 19, 2018, shows Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman attending a speech given by his father, King Salman bin Abdulaziz while addressing the Shura council, a top advisory body, in the capital Riyadh. (Photo by AFP)

Saudi Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman has caused one disaster after another since becoming the heir to the throne, says an analyst, adding that there is no way the kingdom could be united around its leadership.

The comments came after Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir dismissed as “ridiculous” a report by Reuters that members of the Saudi royal family want to overthrow Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, saying that the kingdom is united around its leadership.

“Since Muhammad bin Salman has taken the effective leadership, it has been one disaster after another. The invasion and the ongoing attacks on Yemen, the fiasco where they brought the Lebanese Prime Minister Hariri to Riyadh and had him apparently forcibly resign from his prime ministership of Lebanon and that was reversed of course when he went back to Lebanon, the International Monetary Fund is warning that Saudi Arabia could be bankrupt in five years, so it is one disaster after another,” Rick Sterling told Press TV in an interview on Thursday.

“On top of that of course MbS effectively imprisoned in a big fancy hotel many of his cousins and many other members of the royal family. So it is one disaster after another. There is no way it can be united. It must be very tense in Saudi Arabia right now,” he added.

Reuters had quoted three sources close to the royal court as saying that dozens of princes and cousins from powerful branches of the Al Saud family want to see a change in the line of succession but would not act while King Salman is still alive.

The sources said the princes recognize that the king is unlikely to turn against his favorite son. Rather, they are discussing the possibility with other family members that after the king's death, Prince Ahmed bin Abdulaziz, 76, a younger full brother of King Salman and uncle of the crown prince, could take the throne.

The alleged plot to overthrow bin Salman came against the backdrop of reports that the young crown prince had ordered the killing of Saudi dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi, who was assassinated in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on October 2.