RIYADH – A long-time personal bodyguard of Saudi Arabia’s King Salman binAbdulaziz Al Saud has been shot dead in what is officially being describedas a “personal dispute,” though few suspicious details have been givenabout the killing.
Saudi police said in a statement carried by the official Saudi Press Agency(SPA) on Sunday that Major General Abdul Aziz al-Fagham, who was frequentlyseen by the king’s side, died Saturday night in the western city of Jeddah.
According to the statement, trouble broke out when Fagham was visiting afriend who was receiving guests at his home in Jeddah’s al-Shatee district,several kilometers north of the palace where the king usually spends muchof the summer.
The gunman was himself shot dead by security forces, but five officers werewounded in the melee, it said.
Saudi state television also announced the bodyguard’s death in asingle tweet.
“Maj. Gen. Abdulaziz al-Fagham, bodyguard of the Custodian of the Two HolyMosques, was shot dead following a personal dispute in Jeddah,” the tweetread.
Official narrative raises suspicions
Despite the official state announcement, details surrounding the killingremain scarce, prompting suspicions.
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Some foreign journalists suspected the official narrative about Fagham’sdeath. They also drew a resemblance between his death and murder ofdissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi by Saudi operatives.link[image: View image on Twitter]
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Saudi dissidents have also challenged the official account on the death ofthe king’s personal bodyguard.
Ali al-Ahmed, an investigative journalist, said in a posting on Twitterthat, “Fagham was dismissed from his post a few days ago, and that thismade his death suspicious.”
