Rumors in saudi Arabia: the Prince was preparing a coup against his father the king

The 82-year-old Salman bin Abdulaziz has been the king in saudi Arabia in just over four years now. When Salman took office, there were data from several different sources that he suffered from some kind of dementia.

the Rumors were given additional nourishment to king Salman almost immediately gave his favoritson, Mohammed bin Salman, the extraordinary powers. The king himself has kept a low profile and seldom appeared in public.

two weeks ago, on 24-25 February, stepped king Salman up in the spotlight when he travelled to the egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh to participate in the summit between the EU heads of state and government and their counterparts in the arab league.

It is the aftermath to this trip which started the speculation that the crown prince is preparing evil against his father. According to The Guardian had king Salmans next, circuit information about parts of the king's own security feature planned to put the king aside.

the King's entourage took the information very seriously. Säkerhetsmännen was taken immediately out of service and a new strength – according to the Guardian, it was about 30 man – flown in from saudi Arabia to Egypt.

Sharm el Sheikh continued without mishaps, among other things, he had a meeting one-on-one with Sweden's prime minister Stefan Löfven. The Swedish prime minister has been economical with the details of the meeting – the two gentlemen have spoken about the war in Yemen and human rights, much more than this has not been revealed.

When king Salman returned to the Saudi capital of Riyadh he was not, as the protocol prescribes, the deputy of the king, that is to say, the crown prince Mohammed bin Salman. Why bin Salman did not materialize, it has not been possible to gain clarity in.

In less than two days king Salman was away from his executive duties could Mohammed bin Salman to make two strategic decisions, both without consulting his father, the king.

The 33-year-old Mohammed bin Salman appointed his younger brother, Khalid bin Salman, 31, to the new deputy minister of defence. Khalid, a former fighter pilot, came closest from the post of U.S. ambassador. His successor on the ambassadörsposten was princess Rima bint Bandar bin Sultan, one of Saudi arabia's few female diplomats.

when king Salman at the start of 2015 handed over so much responsibility for surrender until the summer of saudi Arabia on his inexperienced and uneducated son, Mohammed bin Salman.

since Then, the crown prince ”MBS”, as he is called, took a series of seemingly impulsive decision that had a major impact.

• He decided to step up Saudi arabia's war in neighboring Yemen. Something that has attracted widespread international criticism for the large proportion of civilians affected.

• He began a campaign to isolate another neighbour, the emirate of Qatar. The decision meant that gulfländernas co-operative body of the GCC, in practice, ceased to exist.

• He has allowed the imprisonment of a number of businessmen in a campaign against corruption, which critics argue is more about that the crown prince would like to strengthen their position of power than about caring about justice.

And, not least, the crown prince Mohammad bin Salman paired with the brutal murder of the jaded journalist Jamal Khashoggi. The US-based saudiern Khashoggi was murdered and dismembered after he entered the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on 2 October last year.

Demontranter holds up a picture of the journalist Jamal Khashoggi who was murdered in October last year. Photo: Jacquelyn Martin/AP

Despite the fact that the saudi regime repeatedly denied knowledge of plans to assassinate Khashoggi, the crown prince met with widespread condemnation from the outside world on the case of Khashoggi. Not least from Saudi arabia's close ally the united states.

In a hearing of the senate foreign relations committee on Wednesday called Mohammed bin Salman for ”a full-fledged gangster” by Florida's republican senator Marco Rubio. The chair of the committee Jim Risch, also he is a republican, stressed that saudi Arabia ”appeared in documents that simply cannot be allowed”.

it has, however, been more tolerant toward the ruling saudi royal family than what his republican colleagues are. So far, Trump's criticism of the crown prince and saudi Arabia have been mild and wrapped.

According to observers, it is the massive criticism against saudi Arabia in the human rights field that scored king Salman to try and curb her son's/his influence. A faction of the court's advisers seek to persuade the king to take greater and more active part in decision-making, according to what the Guardian reports.

" There are seldom straight lines, in the decision-making process in saudi Arabia, and maybe it is too early to conclude that it is about a power struggle within the royal court. But there is no doubt that the murder of Khashoggi shaken saudi Arabia both externally and internally, " says a västdiplomat in saudi Arabia as the DN been in contact with.