Al-Jazeera Net - private
Private sources affirmed to Al-Jazeera Net from the Saudi capital, Riyadh, that the authorities had carried out a campaign of arrests that included senior princes of the royal family during the past two days.
The sources said that the Saudi royal court witnessed an abnormal movement late on Wednesday followed by the arrest of a number of senior princes, and the sources did not reveal the names of the detainees.
Dozens of princes, senior officials, current and former ministers, officials and businessmen were detained by the authorities at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Riyadh on the orders of Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman in November 2017.
Among those arrested were the dismissed Minister of National Guard Prince Miteb bin Abdullah, son of the late King Abdullah, and his brother the former Prince of Riyadh Turki bin Abdullah, the billionaire Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, and Prince Fahd bin Abdullah bin Muhammad, the former deputy commander of the Air Force.
Later, the Saudi authorities expanded the pursuit campaign, and ordered new arrests that included political and religious elites and symbols in the financial and business world in the Kingdom, and the campaign extended to include more cousins of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and their children and families.