Former Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Nayef was instructed that his woman spouse and children customers would be raped if he refused to make way for rival Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) throughout the notorious Saudi Palace coup of 2017, a new report has claimed.
In a shock shift at the time, King Salman promoted MBS as the heir to the Saudi throne after a suspected electrical power wrestle concerning MBS and Nayef – who are cousins.
Given that then, Nayef is claimed to have used a variety of spells in detention and underneath residence arrest. Reports propose that more than 5 a long time soon after MBS staged his coup, Nayef is however becoming held in detention, while it is unclear accurately where.
Now, new promises have emerged about Nayef’s alleged cure at the fingers of the Saudi regime, with sources near to the Prince reportedly saying he was told if he did not give up his claim to the throne, his female family members associates would be raped – and that he was strung up by the ankles although remaining held in solitary confinement.
Former Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Nayef (pictured addressing the United Nations in 2016) was instructed that his woman relatives associates would be raped if he refused to make way for rival Mohammed bin Salman, according to a new report
The statements include to the fears about MBS, who has because taken measures to consolidate his electric power as the de-facto ruthless ruler of the oil-right condition.
Information and facts on the Saudi Royal Family is carefully guarded by the autocratic point out, but the tale of the 2017 coup and promises about the subsequent detention of Nayef are now broadly in the community domain.
Nayef, a near ally of the US intelligence services, was forced to step down as the Saudi Crown Prince on June 20, 2017. The incident has been likened to the ‘Godfather, Saudi-style’, in accordance to a new report from The Guardian.
That day, the newspaper reports Nayef was known as to a meeting in King Salman’s extensive palace in Mecca. His safety detail have been instructed to hold out outside the house, and all mobile phones have been confiscated for ‘security reasons’, the newspaper documented a source as saying.
Prince Nayef was ushered into a area, where he was held for hrs by Turki al-Sheikh – a close ally to MBS – who worked to pressure Nayef into signing a resignation letter and to pledge allegiance to his cousin.
He initially refused, but bowed to stress immediately after threats have been made from his household. A single threat, a source instructed The Guardian, was that associates of his loved ones that have been women would be raped.
His medication for hypertension and diabetic issues was also withheld, the report promises, and he was instructed that he would shortly be hospitalised if he did not cooporate.
By the next early morning, he caved in to the strain. He was built to move into another area, wherever MBS was waiting with tv cameras – and an armed guard. Footage, scarcely 20-seconds prolonged and unveiled by Saudi broadcasters, gave a temporary glimpse into the conference.
In a shock go in 2017, King Salman (pictured proper in 2018) promoted Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) to the heir to the Saudi throne right after a suspected electric power struggle between MBS and Nayef – who are cousins
Pictured: MBS kisses the hand of previous-Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Nayef in a theatrical video clip which showed Nayef pledging his allegiance to MBS as Crown Prince
It showed MBS enthusiastically kissing Nayef’s arms. Sheikh locations a gold-lined robe over Nayef’s sholders. In a textual content to his adviser Saad Aljabri, in accordance to The Guardian, Nayef stated: ‘When I pledged allegiance, there was a gun to my back again.’
Adhering to the coup, Saudi Arabia claimed Nayef experienced been ousted since of an habit to morphine and cocaine – but it came immediately after months of ill experience among the cousins, and thorough setting up by MBS.
The previous Crown Prince was positioned underneath residence arrest, and he informed his advisor Aljabri – who was out of the region at the time – not to return. Aljabri fled to Canada, wherever he was the target of an alleged assassination plot by Saudi Arabia’s ‘Tiger Squad’ – who were being turned absent at the border.
Later on in 2017, the problems of his dwelling arrest were eased, but he was nonetheless banned from leaving the nation.
In 2018 and 2019, he was permitted relative independence. He was permitted to go searching in the state, and produced appearances at royal weddings and funerals.
But in March 2020, Nayef’s fortunes turned once again. Officers raided his desert retreat near Riyadh, and he was positioned below detention – together with quite a few of his personnel.
The Guardian experiences that he was positioned in solitary confinement, and – in accordance to a Europe-based source – was ‘seriously mistreated’.
The resource reportedly alleged that the previous Crown Prince was strung up by his ankles and tortured – producing ‘long-long lasting damage to his lessen legs and ankles’. It is now painful for him to talk, they said, and he dropped ‘a considerable amount’ of excess weight.
The identical source advised the newspaper that in the direction of the close of 2020, Nayef was moved once again – this time to the Yamamah palace sophisticated in Riyadh – King Salman’s official home. Nayef is watched at all periods by CCTV cameras, and is not permitted to depart a little device in the creating.
It is claimed that Nayef was ambushed at a assembly in one of the broad buildings overlooking Mecca (pictured), wherever he was pressured into offering up his position as Crown Prince
MBS (pictured in 2019) has sought to cultivate his graphic right after the 2018 assassination of Jamal Khashoggi, who was killed by a Saudi hit-squad inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, and the harmful Saudi-led war in Yemen
In 2021, Nayef’s bankers and legal professionals in Europe are documented to have recieved funds transfer requests. While his assets in his household region have been seized, Nayef is believed to personal billions of lbs . worth of house overseas.
The bankers and lawyers overlooked and refused the requests, believing Nayef experienced been positioned below duress to make them. Bankers in Switzerland claimed they would only approve the request if he created them in individual.
The supply instructed The Guardian: ‘The main rationale that Nayef is staying held is that the crown prince wrongly thinks that he is a threat to the succession. In also going right after his income, MBS is trying to humiliate Nayef so there is absolutely no menace of any one looking at the former crown prince as a feasible alternative.’
It is believed that Nayef and Prince Ahmed bin Abdulaziz – an additional senior royal noticed as a possible challenger to MBS – are even now in detention to this working day. Their actual location as of right now is not known.
Nayef has denied plotting towards the crown prince, and his attorneys reported in 2020 they were being ‘concerned’ for his safety.
Meanwhile, MBS has sought to white-clean his impression following the 2018 assassination of Jamal Khashoggi, who was killed by a Saudi strike-squad inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, and the destructive Saudi-led war in Yemen.
The Crown Prince has taken some measures to make Saudi Arabia seem extra liberal to the outdoors earth, these as offering ladies the suitable to generate.
But the treatment method of his cousin is additional in line with his alleged involvement in Khashoggi’s brutal assassination. Now, with no obvious challenger to the throne and the West in have to have of Saudi Arabia’s oil, MBS’s ability appears absolute.
MailOnline has contacted the Saudi embassy in London for remark – but experienced not acquired a reaction at the time of publication.
