Saudi critics and experts have called the unprecedented purge of top princes and businessmen a bold and risky move by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman aimed at consolidating power as he keeps an eye on the throne, sidelining potential rivals and dismantling alliances built with other branches of the royal family.

…Saudi Attorney General Saud al-Mojeb said 208 people had been called in for questioning, and that seven were released without charge, leaving 201 in custody.

…The stunning purge began overnight Saturday, initially catching 11 princes and 38 officials, military officers and business leaders. They are being held at five-star hotels, including the Ritz-Carlton in Riyadh.

…An estimated 1,700 individual bank accounts have been frozen.

…Based on investigations in the past three years, at least $100 billion has been misused through corruption and embezzlement.

…The government stressed that only personal accounts have been frozen, leaving businesses untouched.

Scores more Saudis detained in $100 billion corruption sweep – The Washington Post

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Prince Mohammed launched a military campaign in neighboring Yemen in March 2015. A Saudi-led coalition, acting on an invitation from the internationally-recognized government, has targeted the Iran-aligned Houthi movement in a war which has killed more than 10,000 people. 

…Even before the conflict, Yemen was the poorest country on the Arabian peninsula and now millions of people there are facing famine and a cholera epidemic. The coalition denies it blocks commercial shipments of food, medicine and fuel.

…Prince Mohammed has helped lead a diplomatic campaign to isolate Qatar, saying Riyadh’s erstwhile ally backs terrorism and cozies up to Iran. Qatar rejects the accusations and says it is being punished for straying from its neighbors’ backing for authoritarian rulers.

…Qatar had incensed Riyadh by cheering Arab Spring uprisings against some autocratic Arab rulers.

…Prince Mohammed has also opened a new front in the proxy war with Iran by threatening Tehran’s ally Hezbollah and its home country Lebanon.

…Vision 2030 has begun to reduce a big state budget deficit with austerity measures but has not yet created major new sources of non-oil growth or jobs.

…Saudi Arabia adheres to an austere Wahhabi brand of Sunni Islam, which bans gender mixing, concerts and cinemas.

Prince Mohammed’s ascent represents a social and cultural sea change, with power set to be passed to a much younger generation seemingly more in tune with young Saudis. In moves that reinforce that perception, women will be permitted to drive from next year and allowed to attend sports events.

The crown prince has also said the country will move to a more open and tolerant interpretation of Islam [apart from any Shiites associated with Iran, apparently…], and reforms have begun in areas once the exclusive domain of the clergy such as education, courts and the law. Saudi authorities have promoted elements of national identity that have no religious component or pre-date Islam.

Shifting sands: What is changing in Saudi Arabia?

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The crown prince is saying that until 1979 Saudi Arabia followed a moderate form of Islam that is tolerant and open, that it will now return to that era and destroy the destructive ideas of the past 30 years, and that people in Saudi Arabia will live a normal life.

For those of us who were too young at the time to remember, or not born yet, we are told that in the 1960s and 1970s women went about without covering their hair or wearing a black abaya, and even drove cars; that music and sports were taught at boys’ and girls’ schools; that there were rudimentary cinemas playing Arab and foreign movies; that Saudi TV and radio featured women, and broadcast songs by famous male and female singers; that men and women worked together and family members of both sexes got together without being accused of “mixing,” which has become a grave sin. These appear to be tales from a world beyond, but there are black and white pictures and films to prove it all.

After 30 years in a coma, the real Saudi ‘awakening’ begins now | Arab News

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