Saudi Arabia Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman
Dubai: A former Saudi Arabian official, Saad al-Jabri, has alleged that Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman forged his father’s signature on a royal order to launch a war against Houthi rebels in Yemen. There has been no response from Saudi Arabia to al-Jabri’s allegations. He made this allegation in an interview published on the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) on Monday. However, he did not present any evidence to support the allegations. Later, al-Jabri reiterated these allegations in a detailed statement sent to the Associated Press (AP).
There has been a dispute with the rulers of Saudi Arabia
Al-Jabri, a former major general and intelligence officer who lives in exile in Canada, has long been at odds with Saudi Arabia’s rulers. Al-Jabri says his two sons have been jailed in a case to force him to return to Saudi Arabia. He told AP, “I am not a dissident, nor did I reach this position by my own will. I was a high-ranking official in Saudi Arabia who dedicated myself to the security of the country. I am known for saving the lives of thousands of Saudis and Westerners. Now as a father, I am doing everything I can to get my children released.”
Agreement with the Obama administration
Al-Jabri’s allegations are considered important as Mohammed, the son and successor of Saudi Arabia’s King Salman (88), often meets leaders in place of his father. Al-Jabri told the BBC that a “trusted” official associated with the Saudi Arabian Interior Ministry had told him that Crown Prince Mohammed had signed an order to wage war on behalf of his father. Mohammed used to be the Defense Minister at the time. Later, al-Jabri told AP that he had reached an agreement with the then Obama administration to launch air strikes in Yemen with the aim of “eliminating the Houthi threat, ending the conflict and imposing a political order without ground intervention.”
Royal order issued
Al-Jabri said Saudi Arabia’s then-interior minister Prince Mohammed bin Nayef chaired a meeting in Saudi Arabia to formalize that plan. However, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman expressed “clear disagreement” at that meeting, saying he could defeat the Houthis in a ground offensive within two months, al-Jabri said. “Surprisingly, a royal order was later issued with a forged signature, ignoring the laid-out plan, without the king’s knowledge,” al-Jabri told the AP.
The US declined to comment
The US State Department has declined to comment on al-Jabri’s claims. A Saudi-led multi-nation military campaign to rout pro-Iran Houthi rebels in Yemen a decade ago is still not fully over. The war has killed more than 150,000 people and has led to one of the world’s biggest humanitarian tragedies. (AP)
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