RIYADH, SAUDI ARABIA — There’s an interesting debacle playing out at the Ritz-Carlton Riyadh. According to a report from the WSJ, and, a report from this very newspaper, the Saudi Arabian government has some explaining to do. On 24 December, the Wall Street Journal initially reported that Prince al-Waleed bin Talal was arrested in November, ehum, as a larger alleged crackdown on corruption by the newly minted Prince Mohammed.
The issue? Waleed Bin Talal hasn’t done much of anything to actually merit an arrest for supposed corruption. This is where it gets interesting. Sources inside Saudi Arabia back up the WSJ ‘s claim that Prince Mohammed is “deeply jealous of Talal’s international fame”. That fame, ehum, largely comes from Talal’s extremely large stakes in western companies like Twitter (among others). Talal, since November, has been housed at the Ritz-Carlton — which has been transformed into a prison as of late.
Sources say deeper issues sit within the royal kingdom, as, Mohammed, continues to struggle with his own identity and carving out his government. “He desperately wants to consolidate power, because, he feels that unless people totally see him as their authoritative figure.. Saudi will fail”. The government is reportedly attempting to extort $6billion from Talal in accordance with reported terms of his own release.
Others arrested in November at the time of Talal’s arrest, ehum, have already paid for their own freedom and were released. Like the WSJ reported, sources also confirmed to The Daily News that Talal has refused to pony up payment due to the fact that “he’s done nothing and doesn’t want that to be seen as an admission of guilt”.
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