Following in the footsteps of the UAE, Saudi Arabia prepares for a crack down on the Muslim Brotherhood

Saudi Arabia appears to be determined to crack down on the Muslim Brotherhood in a manner similar to the UAE, where security services have already arrested over 90 members of the Brotherhood.

The Saudi newspaper Al-Watan, which has close ties to state security agencies, published a detailed report on its front page on Wednesday, 2 October 2013, claiming that members of the Muslim Brotherhood have tried to assassinate the Head of the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, Abdul Latif Alshaikh, in an attempt to depict the Brotherhood as terrorists, much like the authorities in both the UAE and Egypt have done.

The newspaper confirmed reports that Alshaikh was recently the target of an assassination attempt when a car tried to run him over as he was leaving the mosque after dawn prayers. However, according to the newspaper, the plan did not work and Alshaikh was unharmed.

In the front page report, the newspaper conflates the Syrian Salafist trend with the Muslim Brotherhood, stating that they are one and the same, and notes that Alshaikh has removed them from the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, which appears to confirm that a campaign is being launched against the Brotherhood, similar to the one in the UAE. Many arrests have already taken place, and many employees have been let go from their jobs.

It is worth noting that Saudi Arabia is considered the biggest supporter of the recent military coup in Egypt, which overthrew a democratically elected government led by the Muslim Brotherhood. According to some reports, the Head of Saudi Intelligence, Prince Bandar Bin Sultan, was even behind General Abdul Fattah Al-Sisi’s operation to violently disperse the sit-ins in the Rabaa Al-Adaweya and Al-Nahda Squares in Cairo.