Arrests in Saudi Arabia Continue

Arrests and the freezing of accounts belonging to members of the royal family, officials, and senior managers in Saudi Arabia continue. Reuters reported that informed sources told the news agency on Wednesday that several suspects have been added to the group of those arrested. Dozens of members of the Al Saud family, officials, and business executives were suddenly arrested on Saturday by the 'Anti-Corruption Committee,' just hours after this committee was formed by King Salman. According to Reuters, one of its sources added that other suspects who are currently free have been questioned by phone regarding financial matters. This informed source told Reuters that the number of those targeted by the 'Anti-Corruption Committee' is expected to reach hundreds. Additionally, banking sources reported that the number of frozen accounts in Saudi banks had exceeded 1,700 by Wednesday, up from 1,200 accounts reported on Tuesday. According to these sources, the latest actions included individuals who had direct connections with the family of Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, the former crown prince and minister of defense of Saudi Arabia. Sultan bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, who passed away in 2011, was the fifteenth son of Abdulaziz Al Saud and the half-brother of King Abdullah, the former king of Saudi Arabia. The report adds that others recently arrested are lower-ranking officials and managers. Reuters writes that the recent actions have faced support from a large number of Saudi citizens. Meanwhile, U.S. President Donald Trump has also supported these arrests, stating that the detainees 'have drained their country for years.' The Saudi stock market continued its decline on Wednesday, which is said to be due to concerns about the impact of these arrests. On Tuesday, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman stated that the arrests would not harm related companies in an effort to calm the situation. According to informed sources, the Anti-Corruption Committee has also frozen the accounts of Prince Mohammed bin Nayef, the ousted crown prince. The King of Saudi Arabia replaced Mohammed bin Nayef with his son Mohammed bin Salman in June of this year. A banker in the region stated that the Saudi central bank updates the blacklist of bank accounts almost every hour. Prince Mohammed bin Nayef, after a long period of being out of sight, attended the funeral of Prince Mansour bin Muqrin, the deputy governor of Asir province and advisor to the 'Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques,' on Tuesday. Prince Mansour bin Muqrin was killed in a helicopter crash on Tuesday, and the cause of the crash has not yet been disclosed. Some reports indicated that Mohammed bin Nayef is under house arrest. However, the most notable detained billionaire is Alwaleed bin Talal bin Abdulaziz, with a fortune of $18.7 billion. He is a major shareholder in companies such as Apple and Citigroup. Unlike King Salman and his son Mohammed bin Salman, the Saudi crown prince, Prince Talal was highly critical of Donald Trump during the U.S. election campaign. He has had business dealings with Donald Trump but congratulated him after his victory. Meanwhile, the New York Times reported that nearly 500 people have been arrested, most of whom are being held in the 'most luxurious prison in the world,' the Ritz-Carlton hotel located in the diplomatic quarter of Riyadh. According to media reports, Bakr bin Laden, head of the Bin Laden Group, Saeed Al-Dawish, chairman of the telecommunications company, Khalid Al-Mulhim, head of Saudi Airlines, Khalid Al-Tuwaijri, former head of the Saudi royal court, Waleed Al-Ibrahim, head of the MBC media group, and Adel Al-Faqih, the ousted Saudi Minister of Economy, are among those listed as detainees.