Saudi Arabia Clamps Down as Crown Prince Consolidates Power
Prince Mohammed is expected to accede to the throne held by his father, King Salman
Saudi Arabia is stamping out traces of internal dissent in a far-reaching campaign targeting influential clerics, liberal thinkers and even princes as Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman moves to consolidate power ahead of his expected accession to the throne.
In the past week, Saudi authorities have detained more than 30 people, roughly half of them clerics, according to activists and people close to those who have been detained. The campaign goes beyond many of the government’s past clampdowns, both in the scope of those targeted and the intense monitoring of social media posts by prominent figures. It is not known if any charges have been filed.
“This is unlike anything Saudis have experienced before,” says Jamal Khashoggi, a Saudi political commentator who left the kingdom recently and now lives in self-imposed exile in the U.S. “It was becoming so suffocating back at home that I was beginning to fear for myself.”
Saudi officials didn’t comment about the crackdown.
The detentions are seen by some Saudi and Western observers as part of a wider effort by Prince Mohammed to shore up control over the kingdom.
In recent months, the government has also barred several senior princes from traveling abroad, according to several people close to the royal family. They include a brother of King Salman. The princes were unreachable for comment.
Prince Mohammed leapfrogged an older cousin in June to become first in line to succeed King Salman, his octogenarian father. Prince Mohammed has become the country’s de facto day-to-day ruler.
King Salman is planning to abdicate in his son’s favor, say people close to the royal court. But the timing isn’t clear.
Mohammed bin Salman is definitely preparing to become king,” said a Saudi adviser to the government. “He wants to tackle the internal debate about him becoming the king and focus on consolidating his power, rather than doing that while being distracted by dissidents.”
The government has denied an abdication is planned, but several people close to the royal family say preparations have already started. The transfer of power, which several people close to the royal family had expected to occur this month, is likely to take place late this year or early next year, these people say.
King Salman is due to travel to Russia and the U.S. on official trips, in October and January, respectively.
The clampdown on dissent “is symptomatic that the transfer of the throne is nearing, even if it will not be as imminent as we thought,” said a Gulf-based Western diplomat.
Most of the people detained in the past week have two things in common: They have a large social media following and haven’t supported the Saudi government in its monthslong dispute with neighboring Qatar. Many are close to Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood movement.
The Saudi government earlier this week said it had arrested people whose behavior was helping “foreign parties” and harming the nation’s interest. It didn’t name those people. “This is a very specific network of people who were planning, under the behest of foreign agencies, a grand plan to destabilize Saudi Arabia,” said a person familiar with the matter, referring to the people who were detained.
The clampdown also comes ahead of antigovernment protests that activists based outside Saudi Arabia are planning for Friday.
“They want to give a strong warning to all Saudis: You are either with us or you are against us,” said a Saudi activist.
Those detained include 15 Saudi clerics, according to activists. Many are former religious fundamentalists who took part in the antigovernment Islamic Awakening movement in the 1990s and who have ties to the Muslim Brotherhood, a group banned in Saudi Arabia, and whose views have since moderated. The most prominent among them is Salman al-Odah, who has some 14 million Twitter followers. He couldn’t be reached for comment.
The Saudi government crackdown on clerics has drawn the attention of extremist groups, such as al Qaeda. On Wednesday, the group urged the Saudi religious establishment to challenge the Saudi royal family.
“How can the grandsons of the Prophet and his Companions become slaves of the Family of Saud and its fool headed tyrants?” the terrorist group said, according to SITE Intelligence group, which monitors extremist activity.
Some people who spoke out against a program to transform the oil-dependent Saudi economy, which is spearheaded by Prince Mohammed, were also detained.
Among them is Essam Al-Zamil, a popular commentator, who cast doubts on how much the government could raise with a sale of up to 5% of Saudi Arabian Oil Co., the national oil company, according to activists and people who know him. Prince Mohammed has said the sale could value the company at $2 trillion at least. Mr. Al-Zamil couldn’t be reached.
Prince Mohammed has taken care to ensure the pace of economic changes doesn’t cause too much pain for ordinary people. The Saudi government has backed away from some measures, such as a planned increase in fuel prices.
Within the royal family, the meteoric rise of Prince Mohammed has sowed divisions. Some members opposed the decision to sideline the former crown prince, Prince Mohammed bin Nayef, a powerful former minister of interior who was close to Washington. His movements have been limited since the line of succession was reshuffled in June, according to people close to the royal court. The government denies restricting his movements.
Last week, government authorities detained a minor royal who had criticized the decision to remove Prince Mohammed bin Nayef from the line of succession.
In addition to leading the economic overhaul, Prince Mohammed has backed muscular foreign-policy moves, such as waging a war in neighboring Yemen and imposing an embargo on rival Qatar.
Saudi Arabia and other Arab countries broke ties with Qatar in June, citing its support for Islamist groups like Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood and its alleged ties to terrorist organizations, a claim Qatar denies.
Since then, Riyadh has warned that anyone who shows sympathy toward Doha could face punishment. Last month, the government launched a campaign asking Saudis to expose to authorities people who tweeted in favor of Qatar or against Saudi interests. Over 400 people have so far been questioned by Saudi authorities over the Qatar crisis, according to the London-based human rights group ALQST.
“The country is going through a major economic transformation that is supported by the people—a transformation that will be painful and hard to do, and that requires unity,” said Mr. Khashoggi, the Saudi now living in the U.S. “Instead, they are encouraging intimidation.”