King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia narrowly avoids Palace Coup?

[More_liberal_than_mo]

Indeed, there have been reports ¬- all unconfirmed -¬ that Prince Bandar bin Sultan bin Abdel Aziz, a nephew of the king and former Saudi ambassador to Washington had attempted a coup and has since been under house arrest. Other sources said Bandar was detained in a Saudi prison. A Saudi official however told this reporter that the whole story was part of an Iranian disinformation campaign.
http://www.businessinsider.com/king-abdullah-rumored-to-have-narrowly-avoided-overthrow-from-family-coup-2010-8

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You may recall Prince Bandar, the notorious best buddy of none other than George W. Bush. This could be big.

[aquart]

1. Or at least mildly entertaining.

[nickinSTL]

2. think W or his buddies were behind it?

:evilgrin:

[More_liberal_than_mo]

5. The Bush Family (BFEE)

has been in bed with the Saudis every since Bush the Elder was CIA chief. I'm sure the CIA still has many embedded Bush cronies. This could have been an attempt to start something with Iran.

[thewiseguy]

7. Start what with Iran?

The Saudi royal family is a lot more stable and in control than you may think.

It is a family business and everyone is fed well.

[More_liberal_than_mo]

11. War?

In the event the US attacks Iran the US would need all the support they could get from Saudi.

[thewiseguy]

3. It would not make sense for him to attempt a coup

I think he is smarter than that.

[More_liberal_than_mo]

8. Not if the CIA

promised to back Bandar after he took power. Bandar was a quite powerful figure in Saudi politics. I believe enough of the family would have gone along with it for the coup to succeed.

[nadinbrzezinski]

4. In the international order this could be very big

you are correct.

Why would Bandar do this? Oh never mind, I don't know enough of the palace politics to know, and as a woman... I'm not expected to. Though Bandar might want to reform the state, after all he likes his cigars and his alcohol.

[thewiseguy]

6. This news makes no sense

All high ranking saudi officials are from the house of Saud. What was Bandar going to do with them? Purge? What about the Wahabbi clerics?

This news just does not pass the smell test.

[More_liberal_than_mo]

9. Prince Bandar

is one of them. If he were able to pull it off almost all the rest would go along with him.

[nadinbrzezinski]

15. I know it makes no sense

but we will have to wait for some confirmation

[thewiseguy]

10. This news is at least a year old

First published by presstv an Iranian news outlet.

Since then, Prince Bandar's term as the secretary general of the national security council has been extended. His father is the crown prince.

[More_liberal_than_mo]

12. Then why is Press TV

just now reporting it. http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=102313§ionid=351020205
This story is dated today!

According to the Press TV report:
Saad al-Faqih, head of the opposition group Islamic Reform Movement, told Arab-language TV al-Alam that Prince Bandar has been disappeared and the media has published no word from the ex-diplomat's whereabouts since nearly three months ago......snip
Power struggle between members of the Saudi royal family has been common as power is shared among some 200 princes out of the estimated 7000 family members.

Known as Bandar Bush because of his close relations with former US President George W Bush, the prince is son of Crown Prince Sultan bin Abdul Aziz.



on edit... my bad you are correct the date is nearly exactly a year ago.

[thewiseguy]

13. Look at this

http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=102313§ionid=351020205


In kingdom, Saudi prince's coup 'fails'
Sun, 02 Aug 2009 17:03:54 GMT

[More_liberal_than_mo]

14. Do you have a link

to the news that Bandar is now back in the public eye? I can't locate anything about his whereabouts since he "disappeared" last year.

[nadinbrzezinski]

16. Hmm then it smells as a plant