At least 11 Saudi Arabian princes, four ministers and several former officials were arrested on Saturday by the country’s new anti-corruption committee reportedly in an attempt to consolidate the power of the king’s son and key adviser, The New York Times reports. Among the arrested is one of the world’s richest men, Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, who has owned stakes in companies such as 21st Century Fox, Apple and Twitter, and also oversees Arab countries’ satellite TV networks.
The king’s son Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has previously been the focus of criticism that he has gained too much power in the various fields of Saudi Arabian law for being only 32 years old. His father King Salman allowed for the creation of the anti-corruption committee and the prince’s leadership of the group only hours before the arrests took place. According to Saudi-owned satellite network Al Arabiya, the committee has the power to “investigate, arrest, ban from travel, or freeze the assets” of those it finds corrupt.
Saudi royal arrests include world’s richest Arab, who invested in Twitter, Lyft, Four Seasons: https://t.co/YlOIezJZPu
— The Associated Press (@AP) November 5, 2017
While President Donald Trump spoke to King Salman over the phone on Saturday about different issues, including the Manhattan terror attack earlier this week, the Los Angeles Times reports that Trump has not publicly addressed the mass arrest. A senior administration also reportedly danced around a reporter’s question about the arrests coming up in the two leaders’ conversation. Jared Kushner reportedly visited Saudi Arabia along with other White House officials last month, but it is unknown if the visit and Trump’s phone call with the king are related.
As of now, the status of the arrested people is not publicly known.