RIYADH – Unofficial reports on the death of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad binSalman after the last month coup have gathered pace after his month-longabsence from the public as Hashtag وفاة_ولی_العهد (#Death-of-Crown-Prince)has gone viral in the country suggesting that the prince has succumbed tohis injuries sustained during the coup.

Bin Salman has not been seen in the public since April 21 attack on hispalace in Riyadh which has raised speculations about his injury and death.

Yousef al-Hazeri, an Arab social media activist, wrote in his twitteraccount that “if bin Salman’s death is true, it means that Trump has thistime used up the milking cow just like a traveling shampoo and threw itinto the sinkhole”.

Meantime, Rashed al-Dosari, another activist, confirmed bin Salman’s death,saying although a reliable source in the royal family has confirmed hisdeath, we are still waiting for the King himself to confirm or deny thereport”.

Also, Khalid Arash asked why no one has seen Mohammed bin Salman sinceclashes erupted between the security forces and unknown assailants at thepalace if reports about his death are not true.

Moheb al-Nabi va Al-e Baiteh al-Athar wrote, “Since reports leaked on thedeath of bin Salman, a number of princes, ministers and Saudi figures havebeen detained and the Saudi officials are in panic over #وفاة_ولی_العهدgoing viral by social media activists.”

Meantime, western analysts and activists have also shown interest in thereports on MBS death, saying that the detention of women’s rights activistsand the Saudi interior ministry’s warning against attempts to disrespectthe religious rules about women indicate that reports on bin Salman’s deathare likely true or he has no more control over his country’s politicalclimate.

Kristian Ulrichsen, a Baker Institute fellow for the Middle East, has askedon his twitter page, “Is MBS still in charge? Has he lost control? Where ishe?”

Gerd Nonneman‏ stated in reply, “Good question. Haven’t seen him featuredin some weeks – and the photograph circulated recently of him with Sisi,MBZ & King Hamad could be from anytime in the past year. He didn’t appearfor any of the Ramadan events either, which is very odd.”

Harb3Imad‏ has also answered Kristian’s question by saying that “extremelyimportant questions Kristian. Haven’t heard or seen anything about him in afew days. Did the WSJ article do him in?”

Last Thursday, an Iranian daily had reported that bin Salman is likely deadafter an assassination attempt on his life last month, claiming intel fromthe security service of an Arab state.

According to the Persian-language newspaper, Keyhan, a secret servicereport sent to the senior officials of an unnamed Arab state disclosed thatbin Salman has been hit by two bullets during the April 21 attack on hispalace, adding that he might well be dead as he has never appeared in thepublic ever since.

Heavy gunfire was heard near the Saudi King’s palace in Riyadh Saudi Arabiaon April 21, while King Salman was taken to a US bunker at an airbase inthe city.

A growing number of videos surfaced the media at the time displaying that aheavy gunfire erupted around King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud’s palace inthe capital, Riyadh.

Reports said the king and his son, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, wereevacuated to a bunker at an airbase in the city that is under theprotection of the US troops.

While Saudi officials and media were quiet over the incident, there werecontradicting reports over the incident. Witnesses and residents of theneighborhoods near the palace said a coup was underway, adding that thesoldiers attacking the palace were guided by footage and intel they werereceiving from a drone flying over the palace.

Saudi opposition members claimed that “a senior ground force officer hasled a raid on the palace to kill the king and the crown prince”.

Videos also showed that a growing number of armored vehicles were deployedaround the palace. ‘Bin Salman’s special guard’ then took charge ofsecurity in the capital. Riyadh’s sky was then closed to all civil andmilitary flights as military helicopters from ‘Bin Salman’s special guard’were flying over the palace.

Bin Salman was a man who almost often appeared before the media but his27-day absence since the gunfire in Riyadh has raised questions about hishealth.

Saudi Arabia, the world’s top oil exporter, has witnessed a series ofradical political changes over the past year as Mohammed bin Salman oustedhis cousin as crown prince and jailed well-known princes in ananti-corruption purge.

Moreover, bin Salman oversees social and economic reforms that have beencensured by several powerful Wahhabi clerics.

Saudi Arabia is also embroiled in a long running conflict in its Southernneighbor Yemen, dubbed by the United Nations as the world’s worsthumanitarian crisis.

Notably, bin Salman made no media appearance during the April 28 visit ofthe newly-appointed US State Secretary Mike Pompeo to Riyadh, his firstforeign trip as the top US diplomat.

During his stay in Riyadh, Saudi media outlets published images of Pompeo’smeetings with King Salman and Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir.

This is while the state-run outlets used to publish images of meetings inRiyadh between bin Salman and former US secretary of state Rex Tillerson.

A few days after the April 21 incident, Saudi media published footage andimages of bin Salman meeting several Saudi and foreign officials. But thedate of the meetings could not be verified, so the release of the videoscould be aimed at dispelling rumors about bin Salman’s conditions.

It is not clear if bin Salman’s disappearance is due to reasons such as himfeeling threatened or being injured in the incident.