RIYADH – A senior Saudi prince who courted controversy after appearingcritical of the king and crown prince has returned to the kingdom amid acrisis over journalist Jamal Khashoggi s murder, family members said.
The return of Prince Ahmed bin Abdulaziz al-Saud, a brother of King Salmanand uncle of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, fuelled speculation ofpossible royal family efforts to shore up support for the monarchy afterglobal criticism.
At least three princes tweeted confirmation of his arrival in Riyadh onTuesday.
Saudi authorities did not respond to requests for comment on the reasonsbehind Prince Ahmed s return after spending several months in London.
The kingdom has faced a torrent of international condemnation over themurder of Khashoggi, a Washington Post columnist who criticised thepowerful crown prince, inside its consulate in Istanbul on October 2.
Khashoggi was strangled as soon as he entered the consulate and thendismembered as part of a premeditated plan, Turkey s chief prosecutor saidWednesday, making details of the murder public for the first time.
The killing has left Prince Mohammed s image as a reformer severelytarnished, but analysts say his position as the kingdom s de factor rulerso far appears unshaken by the crisis.
Prince Ahmed, said to be in his 70s, returned to the kingdom after lastmonth playing down remarks he made while telling protesters to stopchanting against the royals over Saudi Arabia s involvement in the Yemenwar.
“What does the family have to do with it? Certain individuals areresponsible… the king and the crown prince,” he said, according to awidely-circulated online video of the incident in London.
The comment was seen by many on social media as rare criticism from a royalfamily member of the kingdom s leadership and its role in Yemen.
But in a statement, the prince dismissed that interpretation as”inaccurate”.
Prince Ahmed “had been afraid to return”, the New York Times reportedciting associates of his family, but it was unclear whether he had beenassured of his safety by Saudi rulers before he flew back.
When he landed in Saudi Arabia in the early hours of Tuesday morning,”Prince Mohammed was there to welcome him warmly at the airport”, thenewspaper said.
Well before the Khashoggi crisis, Prince Mohammed tightened his grip onpower by cracking down on dissent with the imprisonment of prominentclerics and activists as well as princes and business elites.
But some Saudi experts dismissed widespread speculation that Prince Ahmedcould pose a challenge to the authority of the crown prince, widely knownas MBS.
“Ahmad is no dissident prince… He has been a central figure in the (Saudiroyal family) for years,” said Michael Stephens, a Middle East expert atthe Royal United Services Institute.
His return “at the most is about capacity in the royal household, not someplot. Saudi court politics is always full of intrigue but… Salman hasinvested too much into MBS to watch him fall.” – APP/AFP