THE NEW YORK TIMES
RIYADH,
Saudi Arabia — Until about four months ago, Prince Mohammed bin
Salman, 29, was just another Saudi royal who dabbled in stocks and real
estate.
He
grew up overshadowed by three older half brothers who were among the
most accomplished princes in the kingdom — the first Arab astronaut; an
Oxford-educated political scientist who was once a research fellow at
Georgetown and also founded a major investment company; and a highly
regarded deputy oil minister.
But
that was before their father, King Salman bin Abdulaziz, 79, ascended
to the throne. Now Prince Mohammed, the eldest son of the king’s third
and most recent wife, is the rising star.
He
has swiftly accumulated more power than any prince has ever held,
upending a longstanding system of distributing positions around the
royal family to help preserve its unity, and he has used his growing
influence to take a leading role in Saudi Arabia’s newly assertive stance in the region, including its military intervention in Yemen.
In
the four months since his coronation, King Salman has put Prince
Mohammed in charge of the state oil monopoly, the public investment
company, economic policy and the ministry of defense.
He is the most visible leader of Saudi Arabia’s two-month-old air war in Yemen, and his father has installed him as deputy crown prince,
passing over dozens of older princes to put him second in line to the
throne. Stunning the kingdom, King Salman removed his younger half
brother, Prince Muqrin bin Abdulaziz, 69, as crown prince and replaced
him with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Nayef, 55, the popular interior
minister. Prince Mohammed bin Nayef, Salman’s nephew, has no male heirs
of his own, and Prince Mohammed Bin Salman is now next in line.
The
sweeping changes have thrust the young prince into power at a time when
Saudi Arabia is locked in a series of escalating conflicts aimed at
defending its vision of the regional order and holding back its chief
rival, Iran. The kingdom is financially sustaining the rulers of Egypt
and Jordan and propping up the Sunni monarchy in neighboring Bahrain
against a revolt by its Shiite majority. It is also arming rebels in
Syria against the Iranian-backed president, fighting in the United
States-led air campaign over Iraq and leading its own air assault on an
Iranian-backed faction in Yemen. And it is ramping up its military
spending even as plunging oil prices and growing domestic expenditures
have reduced its financial reserves by $50 billion over the last six
months, to less than $700 billion.
“The
king has put his son on an incredibly steep learning curve, clearly,”
said Ford M. Fraker, the president of the Middle East Policy Council and
a former United States ambassador to Saudi Arabia. “The king is
obviously convinced he is up to the challenge.”
But
some Western diplomats, speaking on the condition of anonymity for fear
of alienating the prince and the king, say they are worried about the
growing influence of the prince, with one even calling him “rash” and
“impulsive.” And in interviews, at least two other princes in the main
line of the royal family made it clear that some older members of the
clan have doubts as well. Both questioned the costs and benefits of the
Yemen campaign that Prince Mohammed has spearheaded.
King
Salman, of course, has ultimate authority, and some diplomats who have
met with both Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Crown Prince Mohammed bin
Nayef in recent months said the senior prince appeared avuncular toward
his younger cousin. Several said the crown prince appeared to be working
hard to guide and train Prince Mohammed bin Salman. But other diplomats
said they believed Prince Mohammed bin Salman had played a bigger role
in advocating for the Yemen air campaign.
After
meeting with both princes at a summit meeting of gulf nations at Camp
David last month, President Obama said the younger Prince Mohammed
“struck us as extremely knowledgeable, very smart.”
“I think wise beyond his years,” Mr. Obama added in an interview with the Saudi-owned Al Arabiya network.
But
scholars say the accumulation of so much responsibility in the hands of
one branch of the family — to say nothing of one young prince — breaks
with a system of intrafamily power sharing put in place at the founding
of the modern Saudi state by King Abdul Aziz al Saud eight decades ago.
It ended decades of sometimes violent infighting and has helped preserve
family unity ever since.
Crown
princes had long presided over their own royal courts and executive
staff members. Most other ministerial positions — and most important,
those controlling the military, National Guard and internal security —
were distributed among other princes. But the critical ministries of oil
and finance were kept in neutral, technocratic hands outside the
family.
But
King Salman upended that. He made Prince Mohammed the first chief of
his royal court and absorbed the court of the crown prince into his own.
He removed the state oil company from the oil ministry and put it under
Prince Mohammed, who was also handed control of a newly created
economic policy council and the Defense Ministry. (King Salman had been
defense minister.)
Prince
Mohammed is also expected to take over the National Guard from his
cousin Prince Mutaib bin Abdullah, according to an aide to Prince Mutaib
and Western diplomats. The change would consolidate both forces under
the Defense Ministry but fundamentally alter the balance of power in the
family.
Prince
Mohammed’s three older half brothers — sons of their father’s first
wife, Sultana Bint Turki Al Sudairi, who died in 2011 — all have
distinguished résumés and were once considered contenders for top
government roles.
Prince Sultan bin Salman al Saud, 58, a former colonel in the Saudi Air Force, is a former astronaut who flew on the Space Shuttle Discovery
in 1985 and now heads a tourism and antiquities commission. Prince
Abdulaziz bin Salman, believed to be about 55, is a deputy minister of
oil who has championed efforts to modernize the industry. Prince Faisal
bin Salman, 44, holds a Ph.D. in political science from Oxford, was a
research fellow at Georgetown, founded one of Saudi Arabia’s largest
investment firms, Jadwa, and serves as the governor of Medina.
Prince
Mohammed, in contrast, holds a bachelor’s degree in law from King Saud
University in Riyadh and has never studied outside the kingdom.
Prince
Mohammed, however, is the firstborn son of the King Salman’s third and
most recent wife, Fahda bint Falah bin Sultan, who worked hard to
promote him as his father’s successor, according to Western diplomats
who know the family, several family members and associates who have
worked for the family.
“He
is her eldest,” said one longtime associate who works closely with the
clan. “For her, he is her glory at the end of the day.”
Prince
Mohammed seemed to be planning for a future in government from an early
age, said one family associate who knew him well. Unlike many other
Saudi princes of his generation, Prince Mohammed never smoked, drank
alcohol or stayed out late. “It was obvious to me that he was planning
his future — he was always very concerned about his image,” the family
associate said.
He
became a constant presence at the side of his father, according to
friends, relatives and associates. Eventually, Prince Mohammed held
formal titles as adviser to his father, when he was governor of Riyadh
and defense minister.
“Being
with Prince Salman every minute — can you imagine what you would have
learned?” said Dr. Selwa al-Hazzaa, a physician who has cared for the
royal family and is a member of the advisory Shura Council appointed by
the king. “Do you need someone who has been educated in the States, or
someone who has been his father’s shadow?”
Current
and former diplomats with long experience in Saudi Arabia say they
barely know Prince Mohammed. He has seldom if ever given an interview,
even to the supportive Saudi news media.
An
official biography says vaguely that he was “self-employed” and “earned
commercial experience founding several businesses and investments.”
Businessmen in Riyadh say he was known for his active trading in stocks
and real estate.
Associates
say he likes water-skiing and other water sports on the Red Sea or
during travels. He is a fan of iPhones and other Apple products. And he
developed an early and abiding love of Japan, which remains his favorite
country, a close associate said. When Prince Mohammed first married
several years ago, he took his wife on a two-month honeymoon to Japan
and the Maldives. (He recently married a second wife, associates said.)
His
most public role was running the Prince Mohammed bin Salman Foundation.
Broadly dedicated to developing Saudi youth, the foundation has held
conferences on the uses of Twitter and YouTube, and it has explored
producing Japanese-style “manga” cartoons to showcase Arab culture.
Echoing
commentary in the state news media, many Saudi subjects interviewed on
the streets of Riyadh in recent days praised Prince Mohammed as a
representative of the nearly 70 percent of the population that is under 30.
But
although Saudis are usually reluctant to voice dissent, several said
they worried about his rise. “This is a large family that are competing
to be rulers, and having a young guy in control of the government is
going to create a lot of problems,” said one middle-aged man at an
outdoor cafe who gave his name only as Abu Salah. “We are so concerned
about the future.”
Abu
Fahad, a businessman sipping coffee in a luxury hotel, said, “He has
become Mr. Knows Everything. But he is 29 years old — what does he
know?”
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