Prince Fahd bin Turki: Who is the sacked Saudi prince referred for investigation?

King Salman bin Abdulaziz decided to refer Prince Fahd bin Turki, commander of the joint forces of the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen, to retirement and investigation due to suspicions of financial corruption.

Prince Fahd bin Turki

Prince Fahd bin Turki (59 years old) belongs to the third generation of the Saudi royal family, as he is the grandson of the founder of the Kingdom, Abdulaziz Al Saud, of his twenty-first son Turki II, and his mother is Princess Noura bint Abdullah bin Abdul Rahman Al Saud.

Prince Fahd is married to the daughter of the late Saudi King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz, with whom he has a son, Prince Abdulaziz bin Fahd bin Turki (who was removed from office and also referred for investigation), along with three daughters.

Prince Fahd entered the military service in 1983 and progressed in military positions thereafter until he became deputy commander of the ground forces and commander of the paratroopers and special forces units, then was promoted to the ranks of a pillar team and he was appointed commander of the ground forces.

Prince Fahd bin Turki’s name has been associated with the intensity of the war in Yemen, as he oversaw the military operations carried out by the Saudi-led coalition against the Ansar Allah al-Houthi movement, before assuming command of joint operations by coalition forces in February 2018.

Photographs of Prince Fahd were often circulated while inspecting military operations in Yemen and on the Saudi border, and he appeared in military uniform during his father’s funeral in 2016. On several occasions, rumors of his death circulated during the operations.

According to the royal decree issued yesterday, Prince Fahd bin Turki was referred to retirement and it was decided to investigate him, based on what was transferred from the Saudi Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman -who also holds the positions of Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defense- to the Supervision and Anti-Corruption Commission “regarding what has been monitored from suspicious financial transactions in the Ministry of Defense and request for an investigation, and what the Authority has raised about the existence of financial corruption in the Ministry.

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Prince Abdul Aziz bin Fahd bin Turki

Prince Abdulaziz was born in 1990 to the son of Prince Fahd bin Turki Al-Thani, and his mother, Princess Abeer, is the son of the late King Abdullah Abdul Aziz. He studied political science in the UK and worked in several private companies before the issuance of a royal warrant in 2017 appointing him deputy governor of the Al-Jawf region, northwest of Saudi Arabia, on the border with Jordan.

A resolution was issued to remove him from his post and refer him to investigation in accordance with the same royal decree, which included his father as well as four other officials.

In recent years, the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, Mohammed bin Salman, launched a campaign against what was described as corruption in the government.

In 2017, dozens of royals, ministers and businessmen were detained at the Ritz-Carlton hotel in Riyadh and most of them were released following an agreement with the government.

And earlier this year, the American Wall Street Journal and the New York Times reported that three prominent princes had been arrested, with the arrest reported as the result of an attempted coup against King Salman and his crown prince. .

Last March, authorities arrested some 300 government officials, including military and security officials, on charges of bribery and abuse of public office.

However, critics believe that the use of the “anti-corruption slogan”, although Saudi Arabia needs it, amounts to a “weapon” in the hands of the Crown Prince to strengthen his grip on power. Observers believe that the recent royal decree may further this hypothesis, as the impeachment and investigation decisions included the joint operations commander of the coalition forces in Yemen and his son, the deputy governor of the Al-Jawf region at the same time. time, noting that Fahd bin Turki’s referral to retirement may be aimed at removing him entirely from both scenes. Military and political in the country.