The world woke up at dawn today to reports published by American media about the arrests of some of the top princes in Saudi Arabia, including the brother of the current king, amid a severe state of ambiguity about the reasons and motives of these arrests, which come about two years after the first wave of arrests of dozens of princes and senior officials and wealthy men And money in Saudi Arabia.

Private sources have confirmed to Al-Jazeera Net from the Saudi capital, Riyadh, that the authorities have made a campaign of arrests during the past two days that included senior princes in the royal family.

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.

However, the American Wall Street Journal and New York Times newspapers quoted informed sources that the two princes, Ahmed bin Abdulaziz, brother of the Saudi king, and the former crown prince, Muhammad bin Nayef, were arrested.

They said that the arrest also included Prince Nawaf bin Nayef, brother of the former crown prince, Prince Muhammad bin Nayef.

what happened?
The arrest of the Saudi princes has not yet been fully disclosed, but the American Wall Street Journal and New York Times have quoted informed sources as confirming that masked members of the Royal Court have arrested the two princes, Ahmed bin Abdulaziz and Mohammed bin Nayef, on Friday morning from their two homes that were subject to inspection.

In turn, the New York Times indicated that Prince Muhammad bin Nayef had been under house arrest since his crown prince was overthrown by the current crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman.

A diligent account on Twitter stated that some officers in the security services, the army and the guards who were believed to have loyalty to Ahmed bin Abdulaziz or Muhammad bin Nayef were also arrested.

Five hypotheses .. Is it a coup attempt?
While the sources that reported the news - including American newspapers - confirmed the occurrence of the arrests, and that they have so far affected princes Ahmed bin Abdul Aziz, the brother of the Saudi king, the former Crown Prince Muhammad bin Nayef, and his brother Prince Nawwaf bin Nayef, they have not yet been determined about the motives of these arrests. .

Among the hypotheses mentioned in connection with the discussion of the explanation of the reasons for the new arrests:

1- The Wall Street Journal reported that the detention of Prince Ahmed bin Abdulaziz and Prince Muhammad bin Nayef earlier Friday was linked to an alleged coup attempt.

She added that the Saudi authorities accuse the two princes Ahmed bin Abdulaziz and Muhammad bin Nayef of high treason, and that they face the death penalty or life imprisonment.

2- Some analysts have ruled out the premise of the internal coup in Saudi Arabia. If there is some movement, it may be because of opposition to the changes being made by the Saudi crown prince, writer and political researcher Ali Nasser al-Din said in an interview with Al-Jazeera.

3- The Reuters news agency also said that it was not possible to confirm the cause or background of the new arrests, but it attributed to two sources who spoke to them that some members of the ruling family sought to change the arrangement of inheriting the throne, considering that Prince Ahmed is one of the possible options that could have the support of individuals The family, security services, and some Western powers.

It quoted the two sources as saying that Prince Muhammad bin Salman had caused discontent among some of the prominent branches of the ruling family because of his tightening grip on power and some questioned his ability to lead the country after the killing of prominent journalist Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in 2018 and the Saudi oil infrastructure suffered the largest attack ever last year.

In addition, the head of the Saudi Islamic Reform Movement, who lives in exile, Saad al-Faqih, mentioned two other narratives about the reasons for what happened:

4- That some of the detainees sought by King Salman bin Abdulaziz to intercede for the detainees from the Al Saud family in order to release them, and that during their conversation with the King they were cruel to him, so the Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman took the initiative to arrest them.

5- That the detainees had tickets with each other regarding the decision to stop Umrah and the circumambulation around the Holy Kaaba, while entertainment parties and tourist visas continue, and that this may constitute a danger to the ruling due to the position of the Islamic world as he watches the Great Mosque of Mecca free of the two sects, so Bin Salman felt that there is a similar move To overthrow him as a result, he ordered that they be imprisoned.

He said that bin Salman only believes in strength, and he does not have the accounts of the ancient Saudi rulers who weigh things, and therefore he breached the scholars and tribesmen, and arrested the chief of the largest tribe in the country and threw him two months in prison, as he summoned the top scholars and scolded them because they gave him advice in secret.

Sensitive context
Western newspapers have pointed out that the new arrests come in a very special and sensitive circumstance, both for Saudi Arabia and for the region in general.

The New York Times reported that the arrests come at a sensitive time for Saudi Arabia and the royal family, as Prince Muhammad bin Salman's decision to halt religious visits to the Grand Mosque of Mecca due to the Corona virus was sparked.

For its part, the Guardian newspaper indicated in a report that the arrest of three princes of the royal family by the Saudi authorities comes at a sensitive time, as Saudi Arabia prohibits Muslim pilgrims from visiting the holiest Islamic sites due to the outbreak of the Corona virus.

Political analyst at the American Rand Corporation, Becca Wasser, said the arrests were another step by Muhammad bin Salman to devote his authority, and a message to anyone, including members of the royal family, begging himself to oppose the crown prince.

And she adds that Ibn Salman had already removed from him any threats that hindered his rise to power and imprisoned or killed critics of his regime without any repercussions.

On the same topic, Jeffrey Martin wrote in the American magazine Newsweek that the arrests indicate that Muhammad bin Salman is tightening his grip on power as oil revenues in the kingdom drop.

The writer pointed out that Ibn Salman, since his rise as crown prince, seeks to establish his authority in the kingdom through imprisoning his political opponents.

In 2017, the Saudi authorities launched a massive arrest campaign that included dozens of symbols of the royal family, ministers, and businessmen, all of whom were held at the Ritz-Carlton in Riyadh, and later became famous for the Ritz detainees.