Saudi Twitter users have sent thousands of tweets accusing the kingdom's former crown prince and his long-time aide of corruption, in what two Saudi sources said was a campaign to discredit him ahead of a possible indictment, as Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman moves to sideline rivals to the throne.
LONDON - Saudi Twitter users have sent thousands of tweets accusing the kingdom’s former crown prince and his long-time aide of corruption, in what two Saudi sources said was a campaign to discredit him ahead of a possible indictment, as Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman moves to sideline rivals to the throne.
The Twitter storm comes as King Salman, 84, was admitted to hospital in the capital Riyadh on Monday, suffering from inflammation of the gall bladder, according to state news agency SPA. The government’s media office declined to comment further on his condition. The second Saudi source said the campaign clearly had government backing since prominent Saudis close to the crown prince — known by the initials MbS — were amplifying the tweets.
Jabri’s son Khalid said in a text message to Reuters that the Twitter campaign was a “deflection from the actual story: hostage taking of my brother and sister, unlawful persecution and false allegations”. Jabri’s son Khalid strongly denied the Journal report, saying in a text message that his father never controlled the fund and that bin Nayef “had the sole and full discretion” over it “with a clear and undisputed mandate from King Abdullah.”Thousands of Twitter accounts used the Arabic hashtags “the fugitive Saad al Jabri” and “Saad al Jabri’s corruption” over the weekend.
The first Saudi source said MbS’s aides were “accelerating the campaign” against bin Nayef and Jabri ahead of November’s U.S. presidential election in case President Donald Trump, who has publicly voiced support for MbS, loses.
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