The brother of Saudi Arabia’s King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud and a former crown prince were among those detained on Friday, people familiar with the matter told the WSJ.”Prince Ahmed bin Abdulaziz al Saud, a brother of Saudi King Salman, and Prince Mohammed bin Nayef bin Abdulaziz al Saud, the king’s nephew known as MBN, were both accused of treason,” the Journal’s sources said.

“The Saudi royal court accused the two men of plotting a coup to unseat the king and crown prince,” the WSJ reported citing people familiar with the situation. Prince Ahmed bin Abdulaziz al Saud was among those detained, people familiar with the matter told the WSJ. Bin Nayef’s younger brother was also detained, according to the NYT and the WSJ.

The detentions have not been announced by the Saudi government or state media. CNN has repeatedly asked its Saudi sources for confirmation of this story. They say no arrests have taken place. Many rumors of purges of royal princes have later proven to be unfounded.

Mohammed bin Nayef has been under house arrest for the past few years — although that had never been acknowledged publicly — raising questions as to why he was only taken in now and what could have prompted his arrest. In 2017, Saudi Arabia’s King Salman demoted Mohammed bin Nayef as heir to the throne and installed Mohammed bin Salman in his place.

Mohammed bin Salman demonstrated his grip on the country later that year, detaining 200 people, including at least 17 Saudi princes, at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Riyadh in what the kingdom described as an anti-corruption sweep.

Source: https://edition.cnn.com/2020/03/08/middleeast/saudi-arabia-royal-detentions-intl/index.html

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