Riyadh 8 Nov (ANA) - KING Salman is reportedly preparing to make his son Prince Mohammed bin Salman the ruler of Saudi Arabia in a shock move following a corruption purge, reports claim. The handover would follow the arrests of 11 princes and four ministers in an anti-corruption crackdown which has been referred to a power grab. Billionaire Prince Alwaleed bin Talal who holds stakes in Twitter and Citigroup was among those locked up when the five-star Ritz Carlton was transformed into a prison. Dozens of officials, business leaders and their families are being held in the luxury hotels with video emerging appearing to show them sleeping on the floor. News of the purge came in the early hours of this morning after King Salman decreed the creation of an anti-corruption committee chaired by the 32-year-old Crown Prince, who has amassed power since rising from obscurity less than three years ago. The new body was given broad powers to investigate cases, issue arrest warrants and travel restrictions and freeze assets. The royal decree stated: “The homeland will not exist unless corruption is uprooted and the corrupt are held accountable.” The news was followed by reports that Prince Mansour bin Moqren had died in a mysterious helicopter crash and reports that another prince had been killed in a gunfight that was later found to be false. Analysts said the goal of the purge went beyond corruption and aimed to remove potential opposition to Prince Mohammed as he pushes an ambitious and controversial reform agenda.

In September he announced the ban on women driving would be lifted and he is trying to break decades of conservative tradition by promoting public entertainment and visits by foreign tourists. Saudi expert James Dorsey, a senior fellow at Singapore's S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, said: "The most recent crackdown breaks with the tradition of consensus within the ruling family whose secretive inner workings are equivalent to those of the Kremlin at the time of the Soviet Union.

"Prince Mohammed, rather than forging alliances, is extending his iron grip to the ruling family, the military, and the National Guard to counter what appears to be more widespread opposition within the family as well as the military to his reforms and the Yemen war.”(ANA)

FA/ANA/8 November 2017-----