Prince Mansour bin Muqrin of Saudi Arabia and seven other officials have been killed in a helicopter crash near the country’s border with Yemen, state media report.
The prince – the deputy governor of Asir province – was returning from an inspection tour when his aircraft came down near Abha on November 5, the interior ministry said.
It did not give a cause for the crash.
The incident came hours after a major purge of Saudi Arabia’s political and business leadership.
An anti-corruption body led by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman ordered the detentions of dozens of people, including 11 princes, four ministers and dozens of ex-ministers.
Analysts see the unprecedented move as an attempt to cement the power of the heir to the throne.
Prince Mansour was the son of Prince Muqrin bin Abdulaziz, a former intelligence chief who was crown prince between January and April 2015, when he was pushed aside by Prince Mohammed’s father, King Salman.
The late prince served as a consultant to his father’s royal court and in April 2017 was among 8 young royals appointed deputy governors.
An interior ministry statement carried by the official Saudi Press Agency said Prince Mansour and seven provincial officials had boarded a helicopter on November 6 to tour a number of coastal projects west of the city of Abha.
The statement also said: “While returning in the evening of the same day, contact with the plane was lost in the vicinity of the Reda reserve.
“The authorities are currently searching for survivors as the wreckage has been found.”
Later, state news channel al-Ikhbariya announced the death of Prince Mansour.
Eleven Saudi princes, four sitting ministers and dozens of former ministers have been detained by Saudi Arabia’s new anticorruption body, local media reports say.
Those detained were not named and it is not clear what they are suspected of.
However, local broadcaster Al-Arabiya said fresh investigations had been launched into the 2009 Jeddah floods and the outbreak of the MERS virus which emerged in Saudi Arabia in 2012.
The detentions came hours after the new anti-corruption committee was formed.
The anti-corruption committee is headed by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and has the power to issue arrest warrants and travel bans, the state-owned Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported.
Separately, the heads of the Saudi National Guard and the navy were replaced in a series of high-profile sackings.
According to SPA, King Salman had dismissed National Guard minister Prince Miteb bin Abdullah and navy commander Admiral Abdullah bin Sultan bin Mohammed Al-Sultan.
No official explanation was given for their removal.
Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman recently said the return of “moderate Islam” was key to his plans to modernize Saudi Arabia.
Addressing an economic conference in Riyadh, the crown prince vowed to “eradicate the remnants of extremism very soon”.
In 2016, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman unveiled a wide-ranging plan to bring social and economic change to Saudi Arabia.
Prince Turki bin Saud al-Kabir of Saudi Arabia has been executed for shooting dead a man during a brawl three years ago in the capital Riyadh, the interior ministry has said.
The prince was put to death in the capital. No details were given as to how he was executed, but most condemned people are beheaded.
Prince Turki bin Saud al-Kabir is the 134th person to be put to death this year, according to a list compiled by the AFP news agency.
It is rare for royal family members to be executed, correspondents say.
Image source Flickr
Prince Turki bin Saud al-Kabir had pleaded guilty to shooting his compatriot, the interior ministry statement said.
Announcing the execution, the ministry said it would assure everyone the government was “keen to preserve security and achieve justice”.
The victim’s family refused offers of “blood money” by which they would receive financial compensation in return for not demanding the death sentence, Al-Arabiya reported.
One of the most well-known cases of a Saudi royal being executed was that of Faisal bin Musaid al Saud, who assassinated his uncle, King Faisal, in 1975.
Most people executed in Saudi Arabia are convicted for murder and drug trafficking although nearly 50 people were put to death for “terrorism” on a single day in January including the prominent Shia cleric Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr.
Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal has described Donald Trump as a “disgrace to America”.
Prince Alwaleed bin Talal said on Twitter that Donald Trump should give up his presidential ambitions because he would never win.
It follows the Republican presidential hopeful’s call for Muslims to be barred from entering the US for security reasons.
Donald Trump tweeted back, calling the prince “dopey”.
“You are a disgrace not only to the GOP [Republican Party] but to all America,” Prince Alwaleed bin Talal tweeted.
“Withdraw from the US presidential race as you will never win.”
Donald Trump responded by accusing the prince of wanting to use what he called “daddy’s money” to control US politicians.
That would not happen, Donald Trump said, when he got elected.
The real estate mogul has been widely criticized for his call for a ban on Muslims entering the US.
On December 10, Damac Properties – a Dubai company building a golf complex with Donald Trump – removed his name and image from the property.
Donald Trump’s comments came following the San Bernardino shootings, carried out by two Muslims who the FBI said were radicalized.
Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, 60, is the nephew of King Salman bin Abdulaziz al-Saud. He completed a business degree in California in 1979.
The prince was named world’s richest Arab in Forbes’ 2015 list as he worth an estimated $32 billion.
He has stakes in Disney, 21st Century Fox, News Corp, Apple, GM, Twitter, and a string of hotel chains and luxury hotels, including the Plaza in New York and the George V in Paris.
Prince Alwaleed bin Talal is the owner of 95% of Kingdom Holdings, a publicly-traded company on the Saudi stock exchange. He is considered Westernized and progressive on most issues. He champions women’s rights and most of his staff are women.
Lebanese prosecutors have charged a Saudi prince and nine other people with drug smuggling, a week after a record seizure at Beirut’s airport.
The prince was not named, but Abd al-Muhsen bin Walid bin Abd al-Aziz Al Saud was detained on October 26 in Beirut’s Rafik Hariri International Airport.
The prince was about to conduct a flight on his private plane to Saudi Arabia.
Photo Yahoo News
He and four other Saudis were arrested after two tonnes of Captagon pills were found in cases being loaded on a private jet.
The others charged in the case – three Lebanese and two Saudis – are at large.
Captagon pills, which typically contain amphetamine and caffeine, are consumed widely in the Middle East.
The drug has helped fuel the conflict in Syria, generating millions of dollars in revenue for producers inside the country as well as being used by combatants to help them keep fighting.
Saudi Prince Majed Abdulaziz Al-Saud will not be charged over the alleged assault in Los Angeles, prosecutors say.
Majed Abdulaziz Al-Saud, 28, was arrested in September on suspicion of assault on an employee at his Beverly Hills mansion.
However, prosecutors say they do not have enough evidence against the Saudi prince.
Majed Abdulaziz Al-Saud’s lawyer, Alan Jackson, said his client was innocent and claimed the case was “some kind of shakedown for money”.
The case has been forwarded to the city attorney for a possible misdemeanor charge, Jane Robison, a spokesperson for the city attorney’s office, said.
There were four alleged victims and one did not cooperate with authorities, Jane Robison added.
Police were called to Majed Abdulaziz Al-Saud’s estate after a neighbor saw a bloodied woman calling for help and trying to climb over a wall.
Two days later, three women who worked as servants at the mansion sued the prince, alleging battery, false imprisonment and intentional infliction of emotional distress.
This case will be reviewed by a prosecutor in the city attorney’s office, a spokesman said.
Prince Majed Abdulaziz al-Saud of Saudi Arabia has been arrested in Los Angeles for allegedly abusing a worker at a Beverly Hills mansion.
According to LAPD, Majed Abdulaziz al-Saud, 28, was arrested on September 23 and released the following day after posting a $300,000 bond.
The prince is scheduled to appear in court on October 19.
Majed Abdulaziz al-Saud does not have diplomatic immunity, police said.
According to the Los Angeles Times, a neighbor had spotted a bloodied woman calling for help and trying to climb over a wall surrounding the $37 million estate.
The Saudi Arabian embassy is yet to comment on the case.
A convoy of cars belonging to a Saudi prince has been attacked by gunmen in Paris, France.
The heavily armed men stole 250,000 euros ($330,000), police say.
The convoy was heading through northern Paris on its way to Le Bourget airport late on Sunday evening when it was raided, reports say.
The gunmen seized a vehicle carrying the money and documents, later releasing the driver and two others.
The convoy was said to have come from the Saudi embassy. No-one was hurt.
The gunmen, reportedly armed with Kalashnikov rifles, targeted a Mercedes mini-van at 21:15 local time on the northern ring road, or peripherique, at Porte de la Chapelle, on the edge of Paris.
The motorcade, belonging to a Saudi prince, was ambushed by eight people in two separate vehicles who pointed their guns at the driver of the Mercedes, forcing him to stop, French media reported.
The Saudi prince’s convoy was heading through northern Paris on its way to Le Bourget airport late on Sunday evening when it was raided
The men then drove the vehicle away with the driver and the two other Saudis inside. No shots were fired and the Saudis were later freed.
“In the vehicle there was roughly 250,000 euros in cash and official documents from the embassy,” police union spokesman Rocco Contento told BFM TV news.
According to Rocco Contento, the operation lasted just a few seconds, something that pointed to “a very organized and especially informed commando unit, who had information and accomplices”.
“As far as I am concerned, it looks very much like it could be commandos from eastern Europe, who we know about, who are often paid to do dirty work.”
The Mercedes was heading to Le Bourget airport with paperwork for the departing prince, who has not been named, according to the prosecutor’s office. Le Bourget is often used for high-level visitors taking private jets to Paris.
The vehicle was eventually found abandoned and another of the gang’s cars was found burned out.
Saudi Prince Fahd al-Saud has spent some 15 million euros ($20 million) during a private visit to the Disneyland resort near Paris.
Prince Fahd al-Saud is said to have booked entire areas of the park over the 22-24 May period to celebrate getting his degree.
Euro Disney, which runs the theme park, confirmed that a prince had spent three days there with some 60 guests.
Disneyland says it regularly organizes private events for firms or people.
Saudi Prince Fahd al-Saud has spent some $20 million during a private visit to the Disneyland resort near Paris
The festivities included tailor-made events involving “rare Disney characters”, Euro Disney told the AFP news agency.
Special security was put in place for the prince, one of the park’s top customers, added Euro Disney.
The theme park attracted 16 million visitors last year, but Euro Disney says it has not made any profits since it was set up in 1992.
Last year, it lost 120.9 million euros in the first half of its financial year compared with a net loss of 99.5 million euros in the same period a year earlier.
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