WEB DESK
Saudi Arabia has arrested dozens of senior ministers including princes and a top business tycoon, with authorities today pledging fair justice after a sweeping purge seen as consolidating the crown prince’s hold on power.
According to media reports, immediately after a new anti-corruption commission headed by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman was established by royal decree that prominent billionaire Al-Waleed bin Talal was among the princes arrested late Saturday.
Separately, the head of the Saudi National Guard, once a leading contender to the throne, as well as the navy chief and the economy minister were replaced in a series of high-profile sackings that sent shock waves through the kingdom.
The dramatic shake-up comes at a time of unprecedented social and economic transformation in ultra-conservative Saudi Arabia, as Prince Mohammed steps up his reform drive for a post-oil era.
Saudi-owned Al Arabiya television reported that 11 princes, four current ministers and dozens of ex-ministers were arrested as the commission launched a probe into old cases such as floods that devastated the Red Sea city of Jeddah in 2009.
The suspects are being granted the same rights and treatment as any other Saudi citizen, attorney general Sheikh Saud al-Mojeb said in a statement, adding that a number of investigations had been initiated.