Saudi Royal Family Coup Underway

On 4 November 2017, a helicopter carrying a high-ranking Saudi prince and other government officials went down in Saudi Arabia’s Asir province as the officials took part in a tour of local projects near Abha, some 160 kilometers (100 miles) from the border with Yemen. The Saudi Interior Ministry reported on 6 November 2017 that all eight people aboard were killed.

The Saudi-owned satellite news channel Al-Arabiya, based in Dubai, reported the crash killed Prince Mansour bin Muqrin and seven others. Prince Mansour, the deputy governor of Asir province, was the son of Prince Muqrin bin Abdulaziz, a former intelligence service director and one-time crown prince. Prince Muqrin was removed as crown prince in April 2015 by his half brother King Salman in favor of Prince Mohammed bin Nayef, a counterterrorism czar and interior minister.

In June, King Salman also ousted Prince Mohammed in favor of the king’s 32-year-old son, the now-Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, as first in line to the throne.All these moves have cemented the young crown prince’s position in power, and the 4 November 2017 arrests of dozens of the country’s most powerful princes, military officers, influential businessmen and government ministers in a purported anti-corruption campaign have further cemented his control.